Thailand approves draft fee rules for ride-hailing and delivery apps

Thailand’s Trade Competition Commission (TCC) has approved a draft notification governing service fee structures in digital platform ecosystems for public transport ride-hailing and on-demand delivery services, commissioner Warawan Chitaroon said.

The draft was endorsed on Monday (October 19, 2026), and the commission is preparing to invite feedback from stakeholders through a 30-day consultation expected to run from October 21 to November 20.

Feedback would be compiled and submitted to the TCC for further consideration and approval on November 23.

Under the timetable, the chairman would sign the notification by December 4, and it would come into force by December 18, following publication in the Government Gazette.

The draft would regulate five types of charges collected by platforms, including service fees, other benefits, revenue shares and waiting fees.

The proposed framework covers the structure used to calculate platform fees, known as GP, along with each increase or reduction in service charges.

Operators would have to provide supporting information and reasonable explanations for how they set fees and for each subsequent change, identifying factors such as operating costs or investment in technology.

The rules would not set GP rates.

The rules would focus on large platforms with market dominance and would not cover every provider.

This would leave room for small and medium-sized platforms, particularly new entrants, to continue competing and encourage a market with a wider range of operators.

Under the criteria outlined, operators with a market share of at least 10% and no more than 33% would be considered to have market power.

Those with a share above 33% would be considered dominant.

Assessments would also take account of the relevant criteria.

Warawan described ride-hailing as having features that distinguish it from some other platform businesses, including the ability to charge GP to both delivery riders and restaurants or shops on the same order.

Platforms also use batched or overlapping assignments, such as having one rider collect food orders from several restaurants along the same route.

These may involve additional per-trip payments and waiting fees while GP remains unchanged.

“This notification aims to make the setting of platform service charges more transparent and open to scrutiny, while ensuring fairness for the businesses and service providers involved,” Warawan said.

Warawan highlighted GP as an important issue, explaining that about 90% of complaints submitted to the TCC by riders and restaurants concerned the fees.

She cited a total of 37 complaints, with some involving batched assignments.

She said platforms had abruptly raised fees at will and without explaining why, with checks identifying eight increases between April and August 2026.

The complaints were all under review because they had only recently been submitted, she added.

Some affected people did not know where to complain or what action to take.

Multi-sided e-commerce platforms such as Shopee and Lazada would be subject to separate regulatory guidelines because their business models and market characteristics differ from those of ride-hailing services, Warawan explained.

An earlier order issued under Section 60 had covered both groups.

She stressed that the objective was to ensure fair competition, not to regulate prices.

Platforms raising service charges would have to explain and justify the increases, as small businesses and riders were directly affected.

It was also reported that Grab, LINE MAN and Bolt were among the major platforms that would have to provide the TCC with details of their GP charges.

Section 60 of the Trade Competition Act 2017 would also be applied to e-commerce platforms including Shopee, Lazada and TikTok, as checks had found frequent GP increases.

Shopee was reported to have raised GP fees 10 times since 2022, by a combined 433%, while Lazada had raised them seven times, by a combined 367%.

TikTok remained under examination.

Statistics for the previous three years showed 13 digital platform complaints out of 42 complaints in 2023 (31%).

The 2024 figures were 22 out of 65, with the proportion reported as 33%, followed by 17 out of 77 in 2025 (22%).

In 2026, there had been 37 digital platform complaints out of 100 complaints, or about 37%.

Digital platform complaints totalled 89 from 2023 to 2026.

Digital platforms accounted for 37 of the 100 complaints received between January 1 and October 7, or about 37%.

The figures showed that problems with business practices on digital platforms remained an important issue for trade competition oversight.

E-commerce accounted for the largest number of complaints, at 25.

The issues included alleged abuse of market dominance to compel payment of service fees, unfair fee-setting and restrictions on shipping choices.

After consideration, four cases were not accepted as complaints.

The TCC resolved to close one case for lack of grounds, while 20 remained under review.

Digital ride-hailing services accounted for 12 complaints.

These concerned alleged abuse of market dominance to compel payment of service fees, compulsory use of batching systems and forced participation in promotional campaigns.

Four cases were not accepted as complaints following consideration, while eight remained under review.