Restaurants Catch A Break From Delivery App Fees, Thanks To City Council Measure

Food-delivery apps will no longer be able to charge high fees to restaurants in the five boroughs, thanks to local legislation. On Wednesday the New York City Council passed Int.1908-b, a bill that caps third-party delivery fees at 15%. 

The vote tally was 46-4 with zero abstentions.

Int.1908 was introduced last month in the Committee on Small Business by Queens council member Francisco Moya and co-signed by District 1’s Margaret Chin of Lower Manhattan, among others. 

Billion-dollar tech companies are bleeding mom-and-pop restaurants dry.

We need to pass my bill Int. #1908 to stop the bleeding and level the playing field between middleman tech giants and our neighborhood restaurants.https://t.co/HwVvcWuHqO

— Francisco Moya (@FranciscoMoyaNY) May 13, 2020

At a City Council hearing in April, Downtown Alliance President Jessica Lappin spoke in support of the bill.

“Our local restaurants, which already operate on razor-thin margins, are facing a once-in-a-generation crisis,” Lappin said. “They may be serving takeout and delivery, but are likely doing so at a loss just to keep their doors open and staff on payroll. These outsized fees are massively eating into what little profit restaurants are able to realize today. Charging a 30% fee, especially during an unprecedented crisis, is unconscionable.”

The new measure goes into effect seven days after being signed into law by the mayor.

photo: iStock