This Catering Company Unexpectedly Operates 15 "Ghost Delivery" Outlets; Shanghai Launches Special Cleanup Campaign, Delivery Riders Take Center Stage

The “Regulations on Supervision and Management of Food Safety Responsibilities for Online Catering Service Operators” formulated by the State Administration for Market Regulation (hereinafter referred to as the “Regulations”) are known as the “strictest in history” takeout regulations and will come into effect on June 1 of this year.

The long-standing issue of “ghost takeout,” which has been widely criticized by consumers, is one of the key areas targeted by the Regulations. Today (March 23), a reporter from Liberation Daily and Shangguan News learned from Shanghai market regulation authorities that Shanghai is conducting a special campaign to clean up “ghost takeout,” and a number of “ghost takeout” cases have been investigated.

From August 2025 to January 2026, Shanghai-based Catering Management Co., Ltd. aimed to enhance its competitive edge by opening 16 brand stores on the Dianping platform, including “Some Cake · Afternoon Tea · Dessert Table Customization,” of which only one is an actual operating store, and the remaining 15 are fictitious “ghost stores.”

The company is suspected of using false business entity information and address credentials to conduct false commercial promotions. Under the jurisdiction designated by the Shanghai Market Supervision Bureau, the Huangpu District Market Supervision Bureau has initiated an investigation. Up to the time of the case, the company used fake stores to attract traffic, canceled 106 orders, with a total cancellation amount of over 100,000 yuan. After the case was discovered, the company shut down all fake stores.

Law enforcement officials stated that, according to Dianping’s search ranking rules, the geographic distance between the merchant and the user is a key factor influencing search result display. The involved company set up multiple fake stores in different commercial areas to gain priority in search results across various regions, thereby achieving traffic diversion and transaction conversion. This behavior essentially involves using false business entity information and address credentials to conduct deceptive commercial promotions and maliciously compete for platform traffic and transaction opportunities.

The company’s actions violate the “Provisional Regulations on Anti-Unfair Competition on the Internet” and constitute unfair competition through false commercial promotion of its business qualifications and credentials online. The Huangpu District Market Supervision Bureau has lawfully ordered the company to cease illegal activities immediately and imposed administrative penalties.

Takeout couriers are the key “whistleblowers” in cleaning up the takeout platform. Recently, some clues about “ghost takeout” discovered by regulatory authorities came from couriers.

On the morning of March 20, the Pudong New Area “Reward for Reporting Ghost Takeout” platform was launched, and an effective report was received from a courier.

This courier recently noticed an anomaly when picking up food at a snack shop called “Xiong Doudou”: the license address listed on a certain takeout platform was No. 1921 Zhongshan North Road, but the actual pickup address was across the street at No. 2170 Zhongshan North Road. The courier learned about the reward reporting platform for “ghost takeout” through the courier station manager and immediately reported this suspicious clue.

After receiving the report, law enforcement officers promptly conducted on-site verification and found that the shop only displayed an expired small catering registration certificate and was using someone else’s license information to operate takeout services, which is a typical “ghost takeout.”

Law enforcement officers visited the site for verification. [Image source: Pudong New Area Market Supervision Bureau]

The Pudong New Area Market Supervision Bureau has lawfully initiated an investigation into this shop. Additionally, relying on an integrated online and offline coordination mechanism, relevant information was forwarded to Taobao Flash Sale, Meituan, and JD Sec-Send platforms, which all took down the shop.

Besides reports or clues from couriers, regulatory authorities are improving the verification interface for licensing information with takeout platforms, enabling real-time updates of catering service providers’ qualification changes and cancellations to help platforms efficiently screen suspicious online merchants. The authorities will also push high-risk merchant lists to takeout platforms based on complaints, violations, and historical data, guiding platforms to focus on on-site verification and improve the efficiency of detecting “ghost takeout.”