New NYC Laws for Delivery Service Apps: What Restaurant Owners Should Know
NYC has passed new laws which regulate online third-party food delivery services.
Starting January 24, 2022, each Delivery App will require a license to operate in NYC. Restaurants will also have a few new requirements to abide by.
The new laws set caps on the fees that delivery services can charge restaurants.
- Delivery fees are capped at 15% of the purchase price of each online order.
- Transaction fees are capped at 3% of the purchase price of each online order, with limited exceptions.
- All other fees are capped at a total of 5% of each online order.
The new laws also provide restaurants with added protections when they interact with Delivery Apps.
- Prohibits Delivery Service Apps from charging you for telephone orders that do not result in a transaction during the call.
- If Delivery Apps list or link to a phone number for your restaurant, they must list your direct number and/or clearly identify each telephone number as either your number or a third-party telephone number.
- Prohibits unauthorized listings on a Delivery App’s website, mobile app or other platform without a written agreement between you and the service app.
There are requirements that restaurants must adopt, which include:
- Any written agreement you enter into with a Delivery App must contain a provision allowing delivery workers access to your bathroom, with limited exceptions for health and safety reasons.
- Require Delivery Apps to provide you with certain customer data at your request unless the customer opts out. Customer data includes only: name, telephone number, e-mail address, the delivery address of the online order, and the contents of the online order.
- Prohibit Delivery Apps from limiting your ability to download such data and from limiting your use of such data for marketing or other purposes outside of the Delivery App’s own website or mobile app.
When it comes to customer data, restaurant owners:
- Cannot sell, rent, or disclose this customer data, except with the customer’s clear consent;
- Must allow a customer to withdraw their consent allowing you to use their data; and
- Must delete a customer’s data upon their request.
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