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At the beginning of January, 14 cities in the Netherlands introduced ZE zones (zero-emission zones) for commercial vehicles (CEP News 44/24). 15 other cities and municipalities are to follow suit. In this connection, fines were to be imposed from 1 May on businesses that enter the ZE zone with a polluting van or lorry (emission class 4 or lower).

The commencement date for the fines has now been pushed back until the beginning of July. The government also wants to make things easier for vehicles in emission classes 5 and 6. This means that vans in emission class 5 will be allowed to enter ZE zones until 1 January 2027. For vans in emission class 6, the deadline is to be extended by at least another year, to January 2028, or possibly even January 2029.

Antitrust proceedings against major Indian Q-com services Zomato and Swiggy. The All India Consumer Products Distributors Federation (AICPDF) has filed an antitrust complaint against Zomato subsidiaries Blinkit and Zepto as well as Swiggy Instamart. The platforms are accused of operating with predatory pricing and high discounts, making it impossible for traditional retailers to compete with them.

The AICPDF represents 400,000 wholesalers who supply 13 million retail outlets in India with consumer goods from companies such as Nestlé, Unilever and Tata. According to the complaint, a jar of Nescafé, for example, which small retailers sell for Rs 622 (6.55 euros) is available for Rs 514 at Zepto, for Rs 577 at Swiggy Instamart and for RS 625 at Blinkit:

If the Competition Commission CCI finds merit in the complaint, it could ask the companies to disclose their pricing strategies, among other things.

Market observers estimate that Blinkit has a market share of 40 per cent, Zepto 29 per cent and Swiggy 26 per cent of the Indian Q-com market.

Upheaval in the Chinese Q-com industry. In quick succession, three of the country's major online platforms - JD.com, Meituan and Ele.me - have unveiled plans to offer their couriers social insurance. According to the »South China Morning Post« (20 February), around 200m gig couriers in China are currently working without fixed employment contracts and the associated benefits.

E-commerce giant JD.com, which entered the food and meal delivery business in early February (CEP News 08/25), plans to gradually introduce the five Chinese social security and housing benefits for its full-time couriers. Part-time couriers will also receive accident and health insurance.

Amazon's logistics costs rose comparatively moderately again in 2024. The full-year figures published on Thursday show that the equivalent of around 95.9 US dollars was spent on 'WW shipping costs'. This corresponds to an increase of just under 7.2 per cent year-on-year.

As logistics costs had also increased by just over 7 per cent in 2023 (CEP News 06/24), the e-commerce giant seems to have prevented double-digit cost increases in its logistics for the time being.

And with revenue growth of 11 per cent to 638bn US dollars and operating earnings almost doubling to 68.6bn US dollars (up 86.4 %) together with net profit of 59.3bn US dollars (up 94.7 %), Amazon can easily absorb the higher costs. In comparison: Spain has annual government revenues of around 601bn US dollars, Australia 609bn US dollars and India 657bn US dollars.

Mondial Relay has not been able to expand its parcel lockers network in France as much as planned. In spring 2024, the InPost subsidiary announced that it wanted to have 8,000 parcel lockers in operation by the end of the year (CEP News 13/24).

Last week, it announced that the network in France currently comprises 7,000 parcel lockers; a considerable number, but 1,000 fewer than planned.

The storming and occupation of the CJ Korea Express headquarters during the 2022 strike (CEP News 07/22) will cost the couriers and the union dearly. Last week, a court ruled that 'it was an illegal industrial action and unlawful in terms of the means, methods, extent, scope and duration of the occupation'. 

The court therefore awarded the company the equivalent of around 176,000 euros in damages. The courier union and three people, including the former chairman Jin, who led the sit-in, must pay a total of around 52,000 euros and the 74 union members who took part in the occupation a total of 124,000 euros.

However, the attempt to recover the costs of security personnel was rejected on the grounds that it was difficult to identify any causal link with the union's illegal activities.