Food delivery hit hard by internet disruption

Bangladesh's burgeoning online food delivery sector has been severely hit by the internet disruptions, bringing operations of the platforms to a near halt.

This affected the livelihoods of delivery riders, small and medium restaurants and home-based chefs.

Although broadband internet has been reinstated, the absence of mobile internet, essential for riders to receive orders, has been a major impediment to the services becoming fully operational.

The platforms were closed for six days, from July 18 to July 23, when Bangladesh experienced a complete internet blackout. On reopening, the businesses operated for limited hours due to a curfew.

Insiders said the sector is facing significant revenue losses every day.

According to Fahim Ahmed, chief executive officer of Pathao, a food delivery platform, the sector's daily transactions amount to Tk 6 crore on an average day.

"Despite resuming operations, restaurants are operating for fewer hours, and certain establishments remain closed," Ahmed said.

"As mobile internet is still unavailable to delivery personnel, we are working with restaurants to ensure that their broadband networks are accessible," he said.

So far, more than 50 percent of restaurants onboarded with Pathao are still closed and 65 percent of the riders have not returned to work as of last Friday.

On Friday, despite it being a weekend, the volume of orders recovered by less than 50 percent.

Industry experts said mobile internet is essential for smooth food delivery as it enables real-time order placement, tracking, and communication between customers, delivery riders and restaurants.

It ensures efficient route navigation, timely updates and quick problem resolution, enhancing overall service reliability and customer satisfaction.

Without mobile internet, food delivery platforms relying solely on broadband would face delays, limited rider mobility, and communication issues, leading to inefficiencies.

Following widespread protest over quota reforms in public jobs, the government shut down mobile internet on July 18.

Since then, delivery personnel have been left out of their means of an income. Many left Dhaka for their hometowns.

A Hussain, a rider for foodpanda Bangladesh, said he left for his hometown in Dinajpur a week earlier.

"I am facing financial issues as it was a significant part of my income," said Hussain, a part-time delivery person.

Those who relied on food delivery as a full-time income were more severely hit.

Mojibur Rahman, who works full-time delivering processed and frozen food for an F-commerce page, said his family has fallen into a financial crisis since the internet blackout started.

"My daily average income was Tk 900 to Tk 1,000. One week without the internet has left me without money," he said.

"On Friday, my wife was sick, and I had only Tk 10 in my pocket. I had to borrow Tk 1,400 to take her to the doctor," he said.

On Saturday, he earned some money delivering only three orders.

Like any other internet and app-based service provider, foodpanda Bangladesh, the top delivery platform garnering the highest demand, has also seen its business being impacted due to the nationwide internet shutdown for almost a week.

As broadband connectivity has been restored, foodpanda Bangladesh has gradually resumed its food and grocery delivery services in some areas.

"Now we have been running our operations partially. Unless mobile data is back, it would be very difficult to run operations smoothly," said Zubair Siddiky, managing director at foodpanda Bangladesh.

"We hope that the internet service will be restored soon," he added.

Meanwhile, the operations of F-commerce based food delivery pages, which buy and sell products directly through Facebook, have remained entirely stalled due to the enforcement of strict mechanisms by the government to block the social media platform.

As they solely rely on the social media platform for visibility, customer interaction, sales and transactions, the businesses are collapsing for the government restriction, said industry people.