Council considers curbing delivery app fees as coronavirus threatens Queens eateries
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A food delivery worker pedals on the sidewalk while carrying an order. Photo by Seth Werkheiser/Flickr
By David Brand
A measure to limit the steep fees levied by GrubHub, UberEats and other delivery apps is moving closer to becoming law, as the City Council considers ways to assist local restaurants devastated by coronavirus restrictions.
The bill, introduced in February by Queens Councilmember Francisco Moya, would impose a 15 percent cap on delivery fee that third-party food delivery corporations can charge restaurants during states of emergencies when eateries cannot serve customers in-house — the current state of affairs in New York City. The corporations now charge participating restaurants around 30 percent, while tapping a massive fleet of workers to pick up and drop off the food at low rates of pay and with no guaranteed tips.
“Apps like Grubhub are bleeding our mom and pop restaurants dry,” Moya tweeted, after WNYC reported on the bill Tuesday. The measure would “level the playing field between mom and pops and tech giants feeding off them,” he added.
Moya introduced the bill to provide some relief to New York City restaurants that now rely exclusively on delivery and takeout amid the state’s shutdown order. The law would remain in effect until 90 days after a shutdown order is lifted.
The economic impact of the coronavirus has forced several local restaurants to close while threatening the bulk of the industry in Queens
Half of Queens’ 6,000 restaurants may never reopen after the crisis subsides, Queens Chamber of Commerce President Tom Grech said last month.
Grubhub, Seamless and other delivery app companies have opposed the measure and said it would result in higher costs for customers.
“Any cap on fees, regardless of the duration, will result in damaging unintended consequences, as we have already seen, for locally-owned businesses, delivery workers, diners and the local economy,” said GrubHub Public Affairs Director Amy Healy at a Council hearing earlier this month.
