KUWAIT: The ministry of commerce and industry issued a binding decision regulating the delivery of restaurant and ready-made food orders, including fixing fees and commissions, cancelling side agreements and combating monopoly practices and discrimination. The move marks an unprecedented regulatory step, the first of its kind at the GCC level, to organize one of the fastest-growing and most influential digital sectors in the national economy.
The ministry said ministerial decision no. 10 of 2026, issued on Sunday, reaffirms the government’s commitment to consumer protection, support for the national commercial sector and the establishment of a fair and transparent competitive environment in the digital economy, in line with the maturity of the Kuwaiti market and enhancing its investment attractiveness and long-term sustainability.
The ministry explained that the decision followed close monitoring and in-depth analysis of developments in the restaurant and ready-made food delivery market, which is characterized by a high level of technical and operational maturity and is among the region’s most attractive markets for investment and innovation.
It noted that field monitoring and economic studies revealed monopolistic practices and unfair tactics by certain entities that disrupted free competition and harmed both merchants and consumers. These practices included unjustified increases in commissions, the imposition of exclusive conditions, lack of transparency in fee calculations and the use of discriminatory technical mechanisms affecting fair visibility within applications.
The ministry added that it coordinated with electronic platforms, restaurant owners and delivery companies to prepare a comprehensive regulatory framework, following intensive meetings over three months with stakeholders, placing consumer protection and market sustainability at the forefront of its priorities.
It confirmed that the ministerial decision is binding and constitutes a legal framework regulating the delivery of restaurant and ready-made food orders through electronic platforms, incorporating effective oversight tools and clear legal penalties, including warnings, closure and license revocation. The ministry stated that this regulation establishes an enforceable legal framework ensuring full compliance and positions Kuwait as a regional leader in regulating the digital economy.
Under the regulatory framework, all licensed companies operating electronic platforms for restaurant and ready-made food delivery are required to rectify their status and amend their license activity to “Management of Delivery Services via Electronic Platforms”, in accordance with the approved international classification no. 532013, within a period not exceeding two months from the regulation’s effective date.
The decision also stipulates fixing the fees and commissions imposed by platforms on restaurants and ready-made food outlets for a period of three years, as a corrective measure to restore market stability, enable financial and operational planning, and protect small and medium-sized enterprises from unfair pressures.
Platforms are required to fix their 2026 fees and submit them to the ministry within one month of the issuance of the regulatory framework. Service providers must adopt a single annual service tariff approved by the ministry, outlining fees, commissions, maximum limits and calculation mechanisms, while prohibiting the collection of any fees or application of discounts outside this framework and cancelling any parallel side agreements.
The decision prohibits the imposition of any form of forced exclusivity, the use of discriminatory algorithms, or the granting of unjustified preferential treatment among customers within the same category. Platforms are also required to document all fees through clear written contracts, adopt annual price lists, refrain from modifying prices during the year and consider any unlisted fees legally null and void.
The ministry said the decision empowers restaurants and ready-made food outlets with the right to obtain their data upon request and free of charge, recognizing this as an inherent right, while allowing freedom to contract with more than one platform. The executive regulations further enshrine key consumer rights, including full transparency in pricing prior to order completion with no hidden fees, assurance of order fulfillment and holding platforms responsible for service quality and delivery safety.
The regulations also mandate price unification, prohibit charging consumers prices higher than those approved at the actual outlet and introduce clear complaint-handling mechanisms with defined timeframes. These include direct communication among the application, restaurant, consumer and delivery representative, as well as organized cancellation and refund processes with clearly defined financial responsibilities. – KUNA
