JD offers free takeaway for delays, expands rider hiring

Chinese e-commerce giant JD announced on Monday that, starting today, consumers who wait more than 20 minutes for their takeaway orders will receive them free of charge. This move comes as its rival restricts food delivery riders to take orders from only one platform.

The company said in an open letter that it will step up the recruitment of full-time delivery riders, raising the quota from 50,000 to 100,000 in the next three months.

It will also allocate sufficient orders to delivery riders who were fired by its competitors for taking orders from JD, and ensure that their incomes will not decrease, according to JD.

The company emphasized that it will never force these riders to "choose one out of two" platforms, encouraging them to accept orders freely from different platforms. JD will also offer job opportunities to the spouses of all food delivery riders.

The announcement follows JD's entry into the highly competitive food delivery sector that is currently dominated by Meituan and Alibaba's Ele.me. On Feb 19, JD announced that it will provide full-time food delivery riders with comprehensive social insurance and housing funds, making it the first platform in China to offer such extensive insurance coverage for delivery personnel.