Code of Conduct and Ethics for GrabMart Merchants

The Code of Conduct provides guidelines and standards that we practice with merchants to ensure our service users are protected by our system and not abused. We aim to deliver the best experience to our users. Grab maintains a zero-tolerance policy for violations of the code of conduct, which may result in suspension or termination of user access to the Grab platform.

 

In order to comply with relevant laws, Grab is required to remove item listings that do not meet Grab’s requirements displayed on store profiles from the Grab application, as well as restrict merchants’ rights to create and edit item listings on the merchant application. Merchants will not be able to create or edit item listings on the merchant application by themselves starting from March 19, 2025 onwards.

 

To ensure safety for our service users and to comply with product-related laws, we require merchants to prevent and take precautions against the following incidents:

Severity LevelIncident DescriptionPrecautionsPenalties
1. Severe Food Safety Incidents (Life-Threatening)

Found severe symptoms and life-threatening danger or physical abnormalities

  • Food poisoning
  • Food allergies
  • Food contamination by hazardous substances
  • Mass food poisoning

Dangerous Contaminants and Foreign Objects

  • Inspect food for foreign objects. If foreign objects contaminating the food are found, discard the food and prepare a new meal set immediately.
  • Examples of hazardous foreign object contaminants in food include sharp metal objects (nails, razor blades, pins, staples) and pests (cockroaches, house lizards, rodent disease vectors).
  • Consuming dangerous contaminants may lead to health problems or loss of life.
Permanent account suspension
2. Safety Incidents Requiring Medical Assistance

Found illness requiring hospitalization

  • Mass food poisoning
  • Food allergies
  • Food contamination by hazardous substances
Account suspension for 2–5 days starting from the 1st incident and subsequent incidents.
3. Safety Incidents Not Requiring Medical Assistance

Found illness but did not receive hospital treatment

  • Food contamination by hazardous substances
  • Food allergies
  • Undercooked or overcooked animal products (consumed)
  • Spoiled food (consumed)

Note: Customers must report within 48 hours from delivery time.

Warning for the 1st incident; account suspension for 2–7 days for subsequent incidents; and suspension for repeated violations.
4. Quality and Hygiene
  • Undercooked or overcooked animal products
  • Spoiled food but not consumed
  • Food contamination by non-hazardous objects
  • Expired products
  • Spills/leakage
  • Fresh produce

Food Freshness and Non-Spoilage

  • Prepare food "on time" to be ready for delivery.
  • Check the expiration dates of packaged drinks or desserts to ensure they are not expired.
  • Inspect the appearance and smell of food to ensure it is fresh and appetizing. Consuming spoiled or contaminated food can cause health problems or fatal harm.
  • Regularly inspect ingredient quality. If non-fresh products are supplied, change suppliers as soon as possible.
  • Please label ingredients/preparation date/expiration date.
Warning for the 1st incident and account suspension for 2–7 days for subsequent incidents.
5. Merchant Conduct and Ethics
  • Violation of religious dietary restrictions
  • Merchants soliciting customers directly
  • Failure to follow customer instructions
    (Religious dietary, health preferences)
  • Incorrect store details
  • Missing items
  • Packing incorrect items
  • Selling alcoholic beverages and all illegal items
  • Inappropriate behavior and violence

To maintain service standards for merchant partners and improve overall consumer satisfaction, merchant partners must prevent and take precautions against the following incidents:

Prohibition of Alcoholic Beverages and Illegal Items
Pursuant to the Royal Gazette regarding the ban on online sales of alcoholic beverages, alcoholic beverages include all prohibited drinks listed below:
- Beer, liquor, cocktails, soju, and all alcoholic beverages

Non-alcoholic (0%) beverages are allowed for sale.

Accurate and Complete Order Preparation
- Always verify accuracy and completeness according to the order before handing food to driver partners.
- Verify correct ingredients before preparing food according to the order.
- Verify item quantities are complete according to the order.
- Include condiments or utensils paired with menu items, such as sauces, seasonings, spoons, forks, straws, etc.

Turn Off Status for Sold-Out or Unavailable Items
If ingredients are out of stock or insufficient, merchants can immediately disable item availability in the app to inform customers that items are unavailable, preventing billing errors by updating menu item statuses in the app.

Closing the Store for Special Occasions Outside Regular Operating Hours
Merchants can check and close their store directly via the GrabMerchant application to prevent the store from appearing active on the app and avoid complaints from customers and driver partners unaware of the temporary closure, by adjusting service availability in the app.

Violent and Improper Behavior
The company does not tolerate violent behavior in any form that may occur while providing service to our customers, such as:
1. Physical altercations or inappropriate verbal arguments with driver partners or customers. In case of violent incidents, the company will investigate and impose penalties on offenders according to regulations.

If a merchant displays violent behavior or engages in physical or verbal altercations with Grab staff, the company reserves the right to suspend services to the merchant to mitigate any risks.

2. Violation of religious dietary restrictions
3. Failure to follow customer instructions with special conditions specified in order notes
- Religious restrictions (e.g., no pork)
- Health safety (e.g., seafood allergy, MSG allergy)
- Other preferences (e.g., vegetarian, non-spicy)

Warning and account suspension for 3–7 days for repeated incidents. Penalties vary by behavior type as designated by Grab.
6. Unsubstantiated Allegations or Unverified Data
  • Food poisoning
  • Mass food poisoning
  • Food allergies
  • Spoiled food
  • Raw animal products
  • Undercooked food (others)
  • Messy or damaged packaging
  • Unpalatable food
  • Cold or soggy food
For every reported food safety issue across categories, the company strictly investigates each incident. If a report cannot be verified or lacks clear evidence, the merchant will not receive a notification. The company will only notify merchants for incidents that have been investigated and verified.Warning for verified incidents.
7. Sale of Kratom Products
  • Kratom leaves
  • Kratom plants
  • Extracts derived from Kratom
  • Food ingredients derived from Kratom

The company does not permit merchants to sell Kratom leaves, plants, or Kratom-derived extracts used in food or beverage mixtures, in accordance with the Ministry of Public Health announcement dated February 25, 2021,

regarding prohibited foods for production, import, or sale (No. 52), which provides scientific reasoning that compounds in certain plants or animals are unsafe for consumption and must not be used as food ingredients.

Therefore, to protect consumers, the use of such plants, animals, or parts thereof in food is prohibited under Section 5 Paragraph One and Section 6 (8) of the Food Act B.E. 2522 (1979), as declared by the Minister of Public Health:

Clause 1: Repeal Ministry of Public Health Notification (No. 378) B.E. 2559 regarding prohibited plants, animals, or parts thereof used in food, dated October 10, 2016.

Clause 2: Plants, animals, or parts thereof listed in the annex to this notification are prohibited from production, import, or sale.

Clause 3: This notification shall take effect on the day following its publication in the Royal Gazette. For further details, see Ministry of Public Health Notification

Warning for the 1st offense and permanent account suspension upon the 2nd offense.
8. Use of Inappropriate Language
  • Naming stores using inappropriate or offensive language
  • Naming menu items using inappropriate or offensive language
Every week, Grab audits merchant store and menu names for inappropriate language. Grab may also receive complaints regarding such behavior from driver partners or consumers. Merchants are prohibited from using offensive language in store or menu names to deliver a positive experience to users.Temporary account suspension or
until corrected, and removal of
inappropriate menu items from
the system.
9. Adding Unrelated Items
  • Tips / Donation requests
  • Pet photos / Pet food
  • Celebrity or public figure images
  • Other items unrelated to food sales such as commission information, off-app transaction solicitation, or content affecting any individual's image.

Grab currently finds that merchants may be violating terms regarding adding items and details unrelated to selling food/goods on GrabMart platform.

Grab emphasizes that adding unrelated or inappropriate menu items/information on the GrabMart platform is strictly prohibited to ensure a good user experience and prevent misunderstandings or potential risks.

Commission details and operational costs are considered unrelated to food/beverage sales on the application.

Warning for the 1st offense and
permanent account suspension upon the 2nd offense or until factual clarification is provided.
10. Ban on Selling Certain Animal Meats
  • Certain animal meats, including sharks (and
    shark fins), rays, bats, snakes, turtles, dogs, and cats
  • All protected animal species
Grab cares for the environment and living creatures while maintaining consumer safety. Grab reserves the right to restrict the sale of certain animal meats on the GrabMart platform to provide a safe and positive experience for users.Warning for the 1st offense and
permanent account suspension upon
the 2nd offense.
11. Unofficial Parcel/Item Delivery via Driver PartnersSending food or products to users via driver partners without placing an order through the Grab application.

Merchants should verify order items placed through the Grab application to avoid wrong deliveries. Grab does not recommend sending non-order items through drivers as they fall outside Grab's and driver partners' responsibility.

In case of customer complaints, Grab will not accept liability. Such actions violate the Code of Conduct and carry penalties. Merchants are advised to follow rules strictly.

Warning for the 1st offense and permanent account suspension upon the 2nd offense.
12. Rating Manipulation and FraudMerchants engaging in fraudulent activities to manipulate store ratings through non-genuine consumer reviews.

Grab maintains zero tolerance for fraudulent behavior violating merchant partner conduct rules under all circumstances.

Merchants are strictly prohibited from violating terms of service and must comply with regulations.

Warning for the 1st offense; 7-day account suspension for the 2nd offense; and consideration of permanent suspension for the 3rd offense.
13. Copyright InfringementUsing copyrighted menu photos, using photos from other stores without authorization, or using store/menu names that infringe on copyrights or trademarks legally.

Grab advises merchant partners to thoroughly check copyrighted images before uploading them to the application. Violations may result in severe penalties and legal action.

If merchants lack menu photos, they can select Grab Stock Photos available during item image uploads.

Warning for the 1st offense,
or Grab may consider immediate permanent suspension for
severe first-time offenses.
14. Dangerous and Prescription DrugsSelling dangerous or prescription/controlled drugs on the Grab application.Grab strictly prohibits selling non-over-the-counter (non-household) medicines via the Grab application.Warnings for the 1st–2nd offenses upon non-compliance with Grab policy, alongside removal of non-compliant medicine listings from the Grab application, and 7–15 days suspension for subsequent offenses. Permanent suspension will be considered for repeated non-compliance.
15. Household Remedies and Unauthorized Drug Advertising

Selling household remedy products without specifying a valid Drug Advertising License number (Khor Thor.).
Advertising drugs non-compliant with drug advertising license conditions and/or the Drug Act B.E. 2510 (1967)
or other relevant laws.

1. Merchants must obtain a Drug Advertising License (Khor Thor.) from the Thai FDA before selling each household remedy product.
2. Merchants must display the license number on all product images of household remedies on the Grab app.
3. Merchants must display the license number in product descriptions for each household remedy item on the Grab app.
4. Merchants must use images and claim descriptions strictly matching the approved Drug Advertising License (Khor Thor.).

16. Medical Devices and Unauthorized Advertising

Selling medical devices without specifying a valid Medical Device Advertising License number (Khor Phor.).
Advertising medical devices non-compliant with advertising license conditions and/or Medical Device Act B.E. 2551 (2008) or other relevant laws.

1. Merchants must obtain a Medical Device Advertising License (Khor Phor.) from the Thai FDA before selling medical device items.
2. Merchants must display the license number on all product images for medical devices displayed on the Grab app.
3. Merchants must display the license number in product descriptions for medical devices on the Grab app.
4. Merchants must use images/descriptions matching the approved license (Khor Phor.) only.

* Reference to the Royal Gazette on prohibiting online sales of alcoholic beverages
** Ministry of Public Health Notification


To comply with laws, Grab is required to remove all drug item listings from store profiles on the Grab app and restrict merchants’ ability to create or edit listings directly starting March 19, 2025. Merchants wishing to update items (in compliance with legal requirements) may request updates via GrabMerchant App home page (Explore) from March 19, 2025 onwards.

If Prohibited Items Are Found on GrabMart

If you spot GrabMart merchant partners selling unauthorized or controlled products, submit a report to Grab here. Staff are available to assist within 24 hours daily.

Appeals Process

If a GrabMart merchant partner violates rules and receives a temporary or permanent suspension, and wishes to request reconsideration or details regarding the suspension, submit an appeal form here.

Grab records consumer report history. If notified via email regarding reports, please take precautions to prevent repeat occurrences. High violation rates will lead to further administrative actions.

Notifications and Actions

Grab records customer report history every time. If you receive email notifications regarding reports, Grab expects you to prevent recurrences. If frequency exceeds thresholds, further action will be considered.