Online merchants spared fuel, inflation surcharges for now

E-COMMERCE platforms and logistics firms in Singapore said they are not likely to implement additional fees on online merchants using their services, despite rising fuel costs and inflation on operations.

This comes after Amazon in the United States announced it will be levying a 5 per cent fuel and inflation surcharge from Apr 28 on third-party merchants that use its shipping service, Fulfillment by Amazon, which stores inventory, packs orders and ships products on sellers’ behalf. This is on top of the current fulfilment fee per unit rates, said an Amazon spokesperson.

In Singapore, ride-hailing companies such as Gojek, Grab, Tada and Ryde have also introduced temporary flat fees to help drivers defray rising operating costs.