Keeta riders striking in Central on May 22, 2025. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. Used with permission.
Despite the prolonged repressive political atmosphere, Hong Kong food delivery riders launched rounds of strikes since May 2025 against the algorithmic exploitation of Keeta, a globally expanding food delivery platform owned by Chinese on-demand service leader Meituan.
Around 270 riders working for food delivery platform Keeta have gone on strike to protest what they called an “unfair” system that has seen their earnings reduced. One Keeta rider told HKFP that while a cross-district order such as delivering from Hung Hom to Tsim Sha Tsui used… pic.twitter.com/ySN1fbQ35w
— Hong Kong Free Press HKFP (@hkfp) May 22, 2025
The strikes took place one month after British food delivery company Deliveroo, which was launched in 2015, quit the Hong Kong market amid a cut-throat price war with Keeta, which only entered Hong Kong in May 2023.
Though it was a latecomer to the food delivery sector, within one year, Keeta had overtaken Singaporean-owned Foodpanda and become the city's most popular food delivery platform. By the first quarter of 2024, Keeta's market share by order had reached 43 percent, while Foodpanda's share was down to 37 percent and Deliveroo's share was 20 percent.
Keeta's success was made possible first because the Hong Kong government Competition Commission was investigating Foodpanda and Deliveroo's contractual terms with restaurants, suggesting their terms may “hinder entry and expansion by new or smaller platforms and soften competition in the market.”
After Keeta entered the city, it launched a price war with a so-called “cash-burning” strategy, which includes offering special deals with chain stores, offering up to HKD 300 (USD 38.22) coupons for newly registered users during its launch, introducing a “punctuality guarantee” system to compensate customers with coupons if the delivery does not arrive within a designated timeframe. Moreover, unlike other platforms which charge non-paid members a delivery fee, Keeta lets all platform users enjoy free delivery services as the restaurants and Keeta cover the cost.
Worker management systems
All three platforms have rigorous worker management systems facilitated by AI to theoretically ensure high-quality and efficient delivery service.
Both Foodpanda and Keeta divide the workers into four pay rate categories. The motorcyclists receive the highest rate, while those who deliver on foot receive the lowest. To overcome the labour shortage during peak hours, the platforms manipulate the payment model and compel workers to take double or even triple delivery tasks, which means they receive a payment, albeit a bit higher, but have to deliver the food to two or three different locations consecutively. This implies that delivery workers must rush during peak hours, while during non-busy hours, when multiple delivery tasks are not available, they will earn less, as the payment for a single delivery task is significantly lower.
According to the Delivery Workers’ Rights Concern Group, there were 19 workplace injuries in 2024. However, the delivery workers are considered self-employed, and the platforms refuse to compensate them for work-related injuries.
In recent years, delivery workers from all three platforms have held small-scale protests against platform exploitation. However, the latest round of protests has seen Keeta in the crosshairs. Soon after Deliveroo was squeezed out of the market, the platform started cutting costs to maximize its profit.
Firstly, it lowered the pay rate of riders’ long-distance delivery from an average of HKD 60 (USD 7.64) per task to HKD 50 (6.37) and shorter-distance delivery from an average of HKD 50 to HKD 30–40 (USD 3.82–5.10). Secondly, it introduced a “K Go” scheme to force delivery workers to lose 20–30 percent of their pay rate in exchange for a higher priority in receiving service orders. Lastly, it launched a “Grab the task” alert feature that compels delivery workers to constantly check the app to compete for orders.
One Keeta deliverer, Khan, 26, told online media outlet Collective HK that when he joined Keeta in May 2023, the average per-task pay rate was HKD 50, but now the pay rate is only HKD 35 (USD 4.46). If the delivery worker joins the “K Go” scheme, the per-task pay rate would be reduced to around HKD 25 (USD 3.19) per order. If workers refuse to join, they have lower priority in receiving tasks, especially long-distance tasks, which receive higher pay. In the past, he used to take 50–60 tasks per day; now he only takes 13–15 tasks.
A Keeta delivery worker group on Facebook uses the mainland Chinese term “involution” (內捲) to describe the “K Go” scheme as it forces workers to self-exploit for their survival in a shrinking market. Keeta's parent company, Meituan, has been widely criticised for its algorithmic exploitation. In fact, triggered by the introduction of a new platform feature “Pin Hao Fan” (拼好飯), which compelled riders to take multiple-location delivery in a single order, Meituan's riders protested in Guang'an City of Sichuan Province, China, in March:
Sichuan Wusheng: Meituan riders strike collectively to resist excessive exploitation (2025.03.19)” Meituan takeaway riders in Wusheng County, Guang'an City, Sichuan Province, went on strike collectively on Wednesday night to protest against excessive… pic.twitter.com/U4LgnEaXeG
— That is China (@That_isChina) March 20, 2025
To address the algorithmic exploitation problem, the mainland Chinese authorities vowed that they would take measures “against the compression of delivery times, which often results in more pressure on delivery workers to avoid delays and therefore leads to more traffic violations and accidents.” And more recently, in May, the authorities summoned major food delivery platform operators, including Meituan and Jingdong, to warn them against vicious competition and “involution” of the sector.
However, Keeta is in Hong Kong. Khan also criticized that Keeta's “Grab the Task” alert feature was introduced at the expense of safety, as riders were compelled to check the app while driving. He had a car accident and was hospitalised for 20 days in March, thanks to the alert feature. He explained that under the “Grab the Task” system, delivery workers must continually respond to alerts to grab orders, and will only stop trying to assign them new tasks after they fail to respond 4–5 times. Yet many are compelled to use the app while driving, because they can not get enough orders from the platform otherwise.
He complained that the designated time for delivery tasks has also been reduced from 20 minutes to 10 minutes, and the locations for multiple delivery tasks have become farther apart than before. Yet, the delivery workers have to bear the consequences, including a delivery fee deduction for late deliveries.
Throughout May, a series of food delivery worker strikes took place in districts across the city: Tsuen Wan on May 10, Kowloon City on May 17, Tin Shui Wai on May 25, Yuen Long on May 28, Central on May 16, 19, 20, 31 and June 1, and more. The delivery workers demand Keeta scrap the “K Go” and “Grab the Task” features, implement a higher pay rate and sign proper employment contracts with the platform workers.
Amid the strikes, the Hong Kong government has promised to introduce new regulations to protect delivery workers’ rights and told the Legislative Council that it had established a liaison group comprising government, platforms and labour representatives “to explore suitable proposals”. However, the crackdown on pro-democracy labour unions since the introduction of the National Security Law (NSL) in 2020, combined with the decline of the restaurant industry in recent years, has left food delivery workers in a weak position when bargaining with platform operators. Moreover, while platform operators are keen on using algorithms to exploit workers and maximise their profits, the city has yet to develop a strategy to tackle this new form of exploitation.
Meanwhile, Keeta has entered the Saudi Arabia and Brazil food delivery service markets. It remains to be seen how its marketing and worker management strategies will be received in non-Chinese markets.
