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Councilmember Charles Alle n 2
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A PROPOSED RESOLUTION 7
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IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 11
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To declare the existence of an emergency with respect to the need to amend the Fair Meals 16
Delivery Act of 2022 to restrict third -party meal delivery services from reducing a 17
restaurant’s placement within a given list of restaurants on a third- party food delivery 18
platform based on the level or percentage of commissions paid, and to make other 19
clarifying changes. 20
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RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this 22
resolution may be cited as the “Food Delivery Fees Transparency Emergency Declaration 23
Resolution of 2023”. 24
Sec. 2. (a) On December 20, 2022, the Council passed the Fair Meals Delivery Act of 25
2022, effective March 10, 2023 (D.C. Law 24- 292; D.C. Official Code § 48-651 et seq.) (“Act”). 26
(b) The Act limits the total fees charged to restaurants by a third-party meal delivery 27
platform to no more than 15% of the purchase price of the online order. This limitation does not 28
apply if a third- party delivery platform offers all restaurants the option to obtain core delivery 29
service for a total fee that is no more than 15% of the purchase price of the online order without 30
requiring the purchase of additional services and notifies all restaurants that have an existing 31
agreement with the third-party meal delivery platform of the option. 32
(c) Third-party meal delivery services have announced that they have notified all 33
restaurants on their platforms of existing agreements surrounding the current service option, as 34 2
required by the Act. The companies have informed restaurants that they will begin to pay a 35
higher commission fee– around 30% for local delivery – to receive their current level of service, 36
i.e., the ability to appear in search results of restaurant listings and reach a larger delivery area on 37
their platforms. 38
(d) Restaurants that remain at the lower 15% commission fee level will face a shrunken 39
customer base and smaller delivery area because they will not be as visible on the platform. The 40
resulting loss of revenue for many of these restaurants because of these fee hikes will be 41
devasting as they continue to recover from the pandemic. Consumers will also see increased 42
prices, as the higher commission fee rate will force restaurants to raise prices on food. Many 43
District residents have come to rely on third-party food delivery services since the pandemic, and 44
the increased use of those services has greatly benefitted local restaurants. 45
(e) Action must be taken to ensure that local restaurants and neighborhood businesses are 46
not burdened with excessive fees by third- party meal delivery ser vices so they can continue to 47
recover to pre-pandemic market conditions and to ensure these third-party meal delivery services 48
comply with the original intent and spirit of the Act . 49
Sec. 3. The Council of the District of Columbia determines that the circumstances 50
enumerated in section 2 constitute emergency circumstances making it necessary that the Food 51
Delivery Fees Transparency Emergency Amendment Act of 2023 be adopted after a single 52
reading. 53
Sec. 4. This resolution shall take effect immediately. 54