(Yicai Global) March 26 -- A number of Chinese government departments have put forward suggestions that online platforms, such as ride-hailing, e-commerce and takeout sites, reduce their commissions to give smaller businesses a boost.

Platform operators need to reduce their fees, according to a document issued by the country’s macroeconomic planner the National Development and Reform Commission and 28 government departments yesterday.

The document also called on financial services platforms to cut payment charges to reduce the burden on small and medium-sized merchants. The country will accelerate the introduction of the digital Chinese yuan which does not have transaction costs, it added.

The high fees charged by internet platforms, especially food delivery sites which can ask for over 20 percent of the cost of a meal, has long been a bone of contention. Calls were made earlier this month during the Two Sessions, the annual meetings of the country’s top legislative and political advisory bodies, to get takeout services to charge less to allow catering firms make some money.

At present, the commissions charged by dominant platforms are too high for smaller vendors to bear, which has a negative impact on their development potential and their market participation, said Zhu Keli, executive director of the China Information Industry Association. Merchants also lack negotiation power, making it hard for them to form a win-win situation with the platform, he added.

Reducing overall transaction costs will better serve the real economy, said Pan Helin, executive dean at the Institute of Digital Economy, Zhongnan University of Economics and Law.

More detailed rules are needed, the experts said. Reducing platform commissions will have a profound effect on the internet-based economy but it is a long-term process.

Yicai Global has contacted ridehailing giant Didi Chuxing as well as takeout sites Ele.me and Meituan and is awaiting a response.

Editor: Kim Taylor