(Yicai Global) March 3 -- China’s leading on-demand food delivery firm Meituan and four other group-buying e-marketplaces were slapped with a combined fine of CNY6.5 million (USD1.01 million), the maximum possible, as regulators crack down on monopolistic behavior and predatory pricing by internet-based giants.

Beijing-based Meituan, Chengxin Youxuan, owned by ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing, Duoduo Maicai, run by e-retailer Pinduoduo, Nicetuan and Shixianghui have been undercutting the competition with substantial subsidies for bulk orders, the State Administration for Market Regulation said today. They have each received fines of between CNY500,000 (USD77,338) and CNY1.5 million (USD230,000).

Big players in the country’s e-commerce sector have been upsetting the normal order of things and squeezing out smaller retailers by offering discounts on group purchases that go below the manufacturer’s price. Last December, China’s regulators introduced a new slew of anti-monopoly regulations to rein in dominant internet platforms.

"The new rules will help ensure market order and call off the price war," said Qian Qinghua, chairman of Cangzhou Huahai Shunda Grain and Oil Seasoning, a supplier to US retail giant Walmart. He was among a group of food suppliers who in December forbade their dealers from selling Huahai Shunda products to bulk-buying platforms in a bid to put an end to the disruption they were causing to the pricing system.

Editor: Kim Taylor