The Danish Competition Council has found that Wolt Denmark violated the country’s Competition Act by abusing its dominant position in the food delivery market. Following an investigation, the authority determined that Wolt engaged in three distinct anti-competitive practices—one exclusionary and two exploitative—which made it harder for rival delivery platforms to grow while imposing unfair terms on partner restaurants.
According to the Competition Council, Wolt enforced a standard price parity clause in its restaurant agreements. This condition prevented restaurants from offering lower prices on their own direct sales channels and created strong disincentives against discounting on competing delivery services. The council assessed that this structure helped insulate Wolt from market entry and price-based competition.
In addition to restricting price competition, the regulator cited two exploitative practices involving restaurant agreements. Wolt retained the ability to offer discounts on a restaurant’s meals without notice, while simultaneously preventing the restaurant from matching those discounts on its own channels. Furthermore, if a customer lodged a complaint, Wolt could unilaterally deduct up to 400 kroner from the restaurant’s payout as compensation—regardless of whether the complaint stemmed from food quality or Wolt’s delivery service—forcing small businesses to absorb the entire financial risk.
The council noted that Wolt’s market share among Danish meal ordering platforms grew from 50–60 percent to 70–80 percent between 2022 and 2024, a period during which these illegal terms were actively enforced. Because 77 percent of Danish consumers routinely purchase takeaway, small restaurants remain heavily dependent on delivery platforms to reach customers.
Although Wolt stopped applying the price parity clause as of December 4, 2025, following the authority’s initial intervention, the Competition Council has formally ordered the company to cease all illegal conduct and prevent similar future practices. Wolt must also notify all partner restaurants of the ruling and provide proof of compliance. To address the violations committed between 2022 and 2024, the Competition Council is referring the case to the court system to seek a financial fine against Wolt.
