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Councilmember Charles Allen 2
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A BILL 6
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IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 11
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To amend, on an emergency basis, due to congressional review, the Fair Meals Delivery Act of 16
2022, to restrict third-party meal delivery services from reducing a restaurant’s placement 17
within a given list of restaurants on a third-party food delivery platform based on the 18
level or percentage of commissions paid, to restrict third-party meal delivery services 19
from reducing a restaurant’s delivery radius based on the level or percentage of 20
commissions paid, to restrict third-party meal delivery services from limiting driver 21
availability based on the level or percentage of commissions paid, to require third-party 22
meal delivery services to disclose, in plain language, all fees, commissions, and charges 23
related to contracted services for covered restaurants, and to make other clarifying 24
changes. 25
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this 27
act may be cited as the “Food Delivery Fees Transparency Congressional Review Emergency 28
Amendment Act of 2023”. 29
Sec. 2. The Fair Meals Delivery Act of 2022, effective March 10, 2023 (D.C. Law 24-30
292; D.C. Official Code § 48-651 et seq.), is amended as follows: 31
(a) The long title is amended by striking the word “platform” wherever it appears and 32
inserting the word “service” in its place. 33
(b) Section 2 (D.C. Official Code § 48-651) is amended as follows: 34
(1) Paragraph (1) is amended by striking the word “platform” and inserting the 35
word “service” in its place. 36
(2) Paragraph (2) is amended to read as follows: 37
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“(2) “Core delivery service” means a service that lists a restaurant and makes the 38
restaurant discoverable on all third-party meal delivery platforms where a third-party meal 39
delivery service lists restaurants and facilitates or performs the delivery through employees or 40
independent contractors of the third-party meal delivery service of food or beverages from 41
restaurants to customers. The term “core delivery service” does not include any other service that 42
may be provided by a third-party meal delivery service to a restaurant, including advertising or 43
other promotional services, search engine optimization, business consulting, or credit card 44
processing.”. 45
(3) New paragraphs (2A) and (2B) are added to read as follows: 46
“(2A) “Covered restaurant” means a restaurant that elects to receive only core 47
delivery service. 48
“(2B) “Delivery radius” means the circular delivery area from around a restaurant 49
within which customers can search for and order from a restaurant.”. 50
(4) Paragraph (6) is amended by striking the phrase “by, and same-day delivery, 51
and the” and inserting the phrase “by, and provides the” in its place. 52
(5) A new paragraph (6A) is added to read as follows: 53
“(6A) “Third-party meal delivery service” means a person that operates a third-54
party meal delivery platform.”. 55
(c) Section 3 (D.C. Official Code § 48-652) is amended as follows: 56
(1) The section heading is amended by striking the phrase “meals delivery 57
platforms” and inserting the phrase ”meal delivery services” in its place. 58
(2) Subsection (a) is amended by striking the word “platform” both times it 59
appears and inserting the word “service” in its place. 60
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(3) Subsection (b) is amended by striking the word “platform” both times it 61
appears and inserting the word “service” in its place. 62
(4) Subsection (c) is amended as follows: 63
(A) Paragraph (1) is amended by striking the word “platform” and 64
inserting the word “service” in its place. 65
(B) Paragraph (2) is amended by striking the word “platform” and 66
inserting the word “service” in its place. 67
(5) Subsection (d) is amended by striking the phrase “platform that” and inserting 68
the phrase “service that” in its place. 69
(6) New subsections (e), (f), and (g) are added to read as follows: 70
“(e) A third party meal delivery service shall not exclude any restaurant with whom the 71
third party meal delivery service has an agreement from a customer within 4 miles of a 72
restaurant. 73
“(f) A third-party meal delivery service shall not reduce the delivery radius of a covered 74
restaurant below 4 miles, based on the level or percentage of commissions paid. 75
“(g) A third-party meal delivery service shall not reduce the availability of delivery 76
drivers provided to a covered restaurant, based on the level or percentage of commissions paid; 77
provided, that this subsection shall not be construed to restrict a third-party meal delivery 78
service’s ability to use any method (that does not conflict with the restrictions in this subsection 79
or any other applicable law) to offer expedited or priority driver services to a covered restaurant 80
that pays for such services on a third-party meal delivery platform.”. 81
(d) Section 4 (D.C. Official Code § 48-653) is amended as follows: 82
(1) Strike the phrase “, the third-party meal delivery platform” and insert the 83
phrase “, the third-party meal delivery service” in its place. 84
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(2) Strike the phrase “platform (“charges”)” and insert the phrase “service 85
(“charges”)” in its place. 86
(e) A new section 4a is added to read as follows: 87
“Sec. 4a. Restaurant disclosure requirement. 88
“A third-party meal delivery service shall: 89
“(1) Disclose to a covered restaurant, in plain language, the fees, commissions, 90
and charges associated with the contracted services in the agreement; and 91
“(2) Maintain all contracts with covered restaurants in its records for 3 years after 92
the date the agreement is executed.”. 93
(f) Section 5 (D.C. Official Code § 48-654) is amended as follows: 94
(1) Subsection (a) is amended as follows: 95
(A) Strike the phrase “third-party meal delivery platform” both times it 96
appears and insert the phrase “third-party meal delivery service” in its place. 97
(B) Strike the phrase “platform does” and insert the phrase “third-party 98
meal delivery service does” in its place. 99
(2) Subsection (b) is amended as follows: 100
(A) The lead-in language is amended by striking the word “platform” and 101
inserting the word “service” in its place. 102
(B) Paragraph (2) is amended by striking the word “platform” and 103
inserting the word “service” in its place. 104
(g) Section 6 (D.C. Official Code § 48-655) is amended to read as follows: 105
“Sec. 6. Third-party delivery platform; registration requirement. 106
“A third-party food delivery service operating in the District shall register with the 107
Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection.”. 108
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Sec. 3. Fiscal impact statement. 109
The Council adopts the fiscal impact statement of the Budget Director as the fiscal impact 110
statement required by section 4a of the General Legislative Procedures Act of 1975, approved 111
October 16, 2006 (120 Stat. 2038; D.C. Official Code § l-301.47a). 112
Sec. 4. Effective date. 113
This act shall take effect following approval by the Mayor (or in the event of veto by the 114
Mayor, action by the Council to override the veto), and shall remain in effect for no longer than 115
90 days, as provided for emergency acts of the Council of the District of Columbia in section 116
412(a) of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, approved December 24, 1973 (87 Stat. 788; 117
D.C. Official Code §1-204.12(a)). 118