AMZ123 has learned that, according to foreign media reports, Thailand's Trade Competition Commission plans to strengthen oversight of fees charged by large digital platforms. Platforms with strong market influence will be required to disclose relevant information and explain reasonable justifications when setting or adjusting commissions and service fees, in order to reduce unfair competitive pressure on SMEs and service providers. The regulation covers ride-hailing, on-demand delivery, food delivery, and e-commerce platforms.

As digital platforms have gradually become important channels for restaurants, riders, and small merchants to acquire orders, the commissions and service fees charged by platforms have drawn increasing attention. In particular, the share of sales fees charged by food delivery platforms to restaurants, commonly known as GP fees in Thailand, has become one of the most frequently complained-about issues received by regulators.

According to statistics, Shopee has raised related GP fees 10 times since 2022, with a cumulative increase of 433%; Lazada has raised them 7 times, with a cumulative increase of 367%; and TikTok's fee adjustments are still under investigation.

Currently, the Thai government is promoting relevant measures. Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Minister Suphajee Suthumpun is working with the Office of the Trade Competition Commission to create a fairer business environment for SMEs.

In terms of specific measures, the Trade Competition Commission approved a draft regulation on October 19, 2026, targeting public-facing ride-hailing services and on-demand delivery services to regulate the fee structure in the digital platform ecosystem. The draft will undergo a 30-day public consultation from October 21 to November 20, and then is scheduled to be submitted to the committee for review on November 23.

The committee chairman is expected to sign the announcement before December 4, and the relevant rules are planned to take effect before December 18 after publication in the Royal Gazette.

The draft plans to regulate five types of fees charged by platforms, including service fees, other interests or benefits, revenue sharing, waiting fees, and others, and requires platforms to disclose relevant information when setting or adjusting fees and explain the reasonable basis for fee changes. For example, platforms may explain how changes in operating costs and increased technology investment affect fees.

Regulators stressed that the move is not to directly set GP fee rates, nor to impose a unified cap on platform fees, but to make the fee structure more transparent, so that merchants and service providers can understand why fees change and verify their reasonableness.

The draft mainly targets platforms with strong market influence, rather than requiring all service providers to comply with exactly the same regulatory approach. According to the standards stated in the proposal, operators with a market share of 10% but not more than 33% may be identified as having market power; operators with a market share exceeding 33% may be identified as having a dominant market position, subject to other relevant factors.

By focusing regulation on large platforms, Thailand hopes to preserve competitive space for small and medium-sized platforms and new entrants, avoiding excessive regulatory burden on small businesses in the early stages of development.

The reason ride-hailing and on-demand delivery services receive special attention is also related to their transaction structure. A single order may involve riders, restaurants, and consumers at the same time, and changes in platform fees can affect multiple parties. In delivery services, a rider may accept multiple orders in one trip, resulting in additional trip fees and waiting fees, further increasing the complexity of fee accounting.

The Thai government said the goal of the regulatory announcement is to make platform fees more transparent and verifiable, while improving fairness among merchants and service providers.

Judging from complaints, GP fees have become a core issue of regulatory concern. About 90% of rider and restaurant complaints received by the Trade Competition Commission involve GP fees, with a total of 37 related complaints received, including issues involving merged orders.

Regulators found that some platforms did not fully explain the reasons when raising fees. From April to August 2026 alone, eight rounds of fee increases were identified, and the relevant cases are still under review. Regulators are requiring major platforms such as Grab, LINE MAN, and Bolt to explain their fee structures and the basis for adjustments.

At the same time, multi-sided e-commerce platforms such as Shopee and Lazada will also face further review, but because their business models differ from ride-hailing and food delivery platforms, regulators plan to apply another set of specific regulatory measures. Multi-sided e-commerce platforms usually act as intermediaries connecting two or more user groups such as sellers and buyers, and platform fees directly affect merchants' sales costs and operating space.

Regulators said they will not directly decide how much platforms should charge, but if platforms raise fees, they should be able to explain the reasons for the adjustment and whether those reasons are reasonable.

Currently, Thai regulators are supervising e-commerce platforms such as Shopee, Lazada, and TikTok under Section 60 of the Trade Competition Act of 2017. Among them, Shopee raised GP-related fees 10 times between 2022 and 2026, with a cumulative increase of 433%; Lazada raised them 7 times, with an increase of 367%; and TikTok's fee changes are still under investigation.

Thailand's regulatory action does not mean platforms cannot raise prices in the future. Instead, it aims to make fee adjustments more transparent through information disclosure and reasonableness review, while seeking a balance between platform profitability and the survival of SMEs.

Author ✎ Summer/AMZ123
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Source: Southeast Asia E-commerce News
Original link: https://www.amz123.com/t/RULO41AV