(Yicai) April 21 -- JD.com, a new entrant to China’s crowded food delivery sector, has publicly accused a rival platform of engaging in ‘unfair competition’ by allegedly banning couriers who opt to take orders from the Chinese e-retailer, and has said that it will provide support to any affected drivers as competition in China’s food delivery space heats up.

A certain competing platform is pressurizing couriers not to take orders from JD.com, the Beijing-based e-commerce giant said today. Those who don’t comply are reportedly being blacklisted.

JD.com slammed these moves as “unfair competitive practices” and said they could lead to a between 16 and 25 percent drop in deliverymen’s incomes.

To counter this alleged action, JD.com said it will guarantee delivery order volumes and a stable income for those couriers who have been blocked. The firm added that it is also doubling its recruitment target of new deliverymen over the next three months to 100,000 from 50,000.

Although JD.com did not mention any names, online speculation is pointing the finger at on-demand services giant Meituan. The two companies have been clashing since February over issues such as couriers’ social security benefits and commission rates.

Meituan denies any rumors that it bans riders from working for other platforms, the company said on April 19. The Beijing-based firm will pursue legal action against those spreading malicious rumors, it added.

Meituan said that it has never prevented deliverymen from joining other platforms, and it does not ban couriers permanently over such matters. Meituan remains committed to providing a fair and flexible working environment, and couriers are free to choose between platforms, it added.

JD.com entered the food delivery sector in February as part of its push into China’s highly competitive instant retail space, where online orders are delivered from nearby physical stores within minutes. To get a foothold in the market, the Beijing-based firm is offering zero commission rates to caterers and is promising full social security benefits to its riders.

On April 15, JD.com said it was already receiving over five million orders a day and in order to keep up with demand, it would hire at least 50,000 more full-time deliverymen this quarter and will pay all their social security contributions.

The same day, Meituan rolled out its instant retail service Meituan Shangou, building on its existing non-food delivery network to bolster its presence in instant retail.

Editor: Kim Taylor