Though there seems to be some light at the end of the tunnel, New York still has a long way to go the weather the Covid-19 pandemic. As small businesses in general have been hit hard by the pandemic, hospitality has been devastated. About 80% of New York’s hospitality workforce has been either laid off or furloughed. As New York begins to take the slow steps to reopen, the Committee on Small Business of the New York City Council will hold an oversight hearing (April 29th) on the impact on Covid-19 as well as a slew of bills related to restaurant operations and third party delivery providers.
As restaurants are forced to takeout and delivery service only, the fees that third-party providers charge them has come to the forefront. To that end, Intro 1908-A carries more weight than it did back in February. This bill would prohibit certain third-party food delivery services, entities that provide restaurants with online order and delivery services, from charging restaurants more than a 10% fee per order for the use of their service. During a declared emergency, when a state of emergency is in effect in the city and restaurants are prohibited from offering food for consumption on-premises, third-party food delivery services would be limited to charging restaurants delivery fees only, up to a total of 10% per order. All other types of fees, such as advertising or processing fees, would be prohibited.
Other bills would:
- Amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to the disclosure of gratuity policies for delivery workers.
- Amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to food service establishments’ packaging of food for delivery
- Amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to the disclosure of commissions charged by third-party food delivery services
- Amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to the licensing of third-party food delivery services
- Amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to telephone order charges by third-party food delivery services
- Amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to prohibiting third-party food delivery services from limiting the purchase prices covered establishments may charge on food and beverage orders
- Amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to harassment of commercial tenants impacted by COVID-19
- Require the department of consumer affairs to waive and refund all fees related to sidewalk cafe licenses that are due on or after January 1, 2020 until December 31, 2020, and providing for the repeal of such provision upon the expiration thereof
- Amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to requiring third-party food delivery services and food service establishments to display sanitary inspection letter grades online
- Amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to personal liability provisions of leases for commercial tenants impacted by COVID-19
- Require the mayor to issue a guidance on license and permit renewal deadline extensions, and requiring that no such licenses or permits be required to be renewed within 90 days after the COVID-19 emergency has ended, and providing for the repeal of such provision upon the expiration thereof
Restaurants serve as social, economic, and cultural institutions for our communities and neighborhoods. Ensuring their survival is paramount.
Update: On May 13th, the City Council passed an Emergency Bill that sets a 5 percent cap on how much such services can collect from restaurants for taking orders and a 15 percent cap on delivery fees. The restrictions will be in effect for the duration of the current prohibition against on-premises dining, and for up to three months after restaurants are allowed to begin serving patrons indoors again. Services that violate the restrictions face fines of up to $1,000 a day per restaurant.
Leave a Reply