Chinese food delivery giant Meituan Dianping said today that it will make improvements to its service after one of its delivery men stabbed a supermarket worker to death on Sunday in Wuhan in central China’s Hubei province.
Photo credit: Meituan-Dianping
“Some quarrels between the delivery man and supermarket worker resulted in the tragedy. After collaborating with the police, we found no bad reviews or complaining calls on the vendor and the delivery man,” said Meituan in a statement via China’s Twitter-like Weibo.
Meituan added that it will take responsibility, look into the problem, and implement improvements to its platform.
Local police said that investigation is still ongoing.
It is the company’s first big public incident since its US$4.2 billion initial public offering in Hong Kong last year, according to a report by Reuters.
Founded in 2010, Meituan provides users with online ordering, food delivery, and other related services.
The food delivery market in the country, estimated to be worth over US$37 billion, has been experiencing rapid growth in recent years. Tencent-backed Meituan and Alibaba’s Ele.me dominate the market with a combined 90% share of the market.
While customers welcome such services, the incident on Sunday stirred debates regarding the pressures and sacrfices food delivery men in China face.
For one, deliverymen may be required to pay a fine of up to over US$40 if the service receives bad reviews or order cancellations.
“People should think more about the appraisal system in food delivery companies. Do they treat workers as machines,” one comment regarding the event said on Weibo.
Editing by Charmaine de Lazo
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