PRINTER'S NO. 1793
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No.
1617
Session of
2021
INTRODUCED BY INNAMORATO, PISCIOTTANO, SANCHEZ, SCHLOSSBERG,
BENHAM, CEPHAS, SOLOMON, KENYATTA, FREEMAN, SHUSTERMAN, LEE,
SIMS, BRIGGS, DEASY, N. NELSON AND A. DAVIS, JUNE 14, 2021
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON CONSUMER AFFAIRS, JUNE 14, 2021
AN ACT
Amending the act of December 17, 1968 (P.L.1224, No.387),
entitled "An act prohibiting unfair methods of competition
and unfair or deceptive acts or practices in the conduct of
any trade or commerce, giving the Attorney General and
District Attorneys certain powers and duties and providing
penalties," providing for food delivery platform service
fees.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. The act of December 17, 1968 (P.L.1224, No.387),
known as the Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law,
is amended by adding a section to read:
Section 9.4. Food Delivery Platform Service Fees.--(a) A
food delivery platform shall not arrange for the delivery of an
online order from a public eating or drinking establishment
without first obtaining an agreement with the public eating or
drinking establishment that expressly authorizes the food
delivery platform to collect an online order and deliver items
prepared by the public eating or drinking establishment.
(b) It shall be violation of this act for a food delivery
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platform to charge a public eating or drinking establishment:
(1) a delivery fee that totals more than ten percent (10%)
of the purchase price of a customer's order; or
(2) a fee or fees, other than a delivery fee, for the use of
the food delivery platforms' service greater than five percent
(5%) of the purchase price of a customer's order.
(c) It shall be a violation of this act for a food delivery
platform to:
(1) Charge a fee to a public eating or drinking
establishment beyond the maximum five percent (5%) fee per
customer's order and delivery fee collected under subsection (b)
(1).
(2) Reduce the compensation rate paid to a delivery driver
or to garnish the gratuity of a delivery driver as a result of
the fee limitations specified in this section.
(d) (1) A food delivery platform shall disclose to a
customer purchasing food or beverages from a public eating or
drinking establishment through the food delivery platform in
plain and simple language and in a conspicuous manner any
commission, fee or other monetary payment imposed by the food
delivery platform on the public eating or drinking establishment
in connection with the public eating or drinking establishment
utilizing the food delivery platform. The disclosure shall be
made before the transaction occurs and when the purchase price
is disclosed to the customer.
(2) If it is not feasible for the food delivery platform to
calculate the total commission actually attributable to the
specific transaction, because that information is not available
in real time or the commission depends on factors such as sales
volume, dollar volume, distance traveled or periodic fixed
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charges such as an annual fee, the food delivery platform shall
disclose a good-faith estimate of the commission, as a dollar
amount, a percentage, an average percentage or a range of
percentages based on the most recent periodic payout from the
food delivery platform to the public eating or drinking
establishment. It shall not be required that the food delivery
platform specify what period of time is covered by the
disclosure.
(3) A public eating or drinking establishment may decline to
disclose to customers the commission charged by a food delivery
platform.
(e) As used in this section.
"Delivery driver" means an individual who provides the
service of transporting the items in a customer's order on a
food delivery platform from a public eating or drinking
establishment to the address provided by the customer.
"Delivery fee" means a fee charged by a food delivery
platform for providing a public eating or drinking establishment
with a service that has the ability to take a customer's order
over the Internet and then deliver the order from a public
eating or drinking establishment to the customer. The term does
not include a fee that may be charged by a food delivery
platform to a public eating or drinking establishment, such as a
fee for listing or advertising the public eating or drinking
establishment on the food delivery platform, or fee related to
processing an online order.
"Food delivery platform" means an online entity that acts as
an intermediary between a customer and a public eating or
drinking establishment to collect the customer's order over the
Internet, submit the customer's order to a participating public
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eating or drinking establishment and arrange for the delivery of
the customer's order from the public eating or drinking
establishment to the consumer.
"Public eating or drinking establishment" means an entity
within this Commonwealth that food or drink is served to or
provided for the public with or without charge.
"Purchase price" means the total price of items contained in
an online order that are listed on the menu of the public eating
or drinking establishment when the order is placed. The term
does not include a tax, gratuity or fee that may make up the
total cost of the order to the customer.
Section 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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