Bill > A5751

Introduced Session

This bill would make it an unlawful practice for any third-party food takeout and delivery service application or website to charge a service fee to a restaurant that is: 1) greater than 20 percent of the cost of the individual order; or 2) greater than 10 percent of the cost of the individual order, when the order is delivered by an employee of the restaurant or an independent contractor with whom the restaurant has contracted directly. This bill does not limit the ability of any restaurant to choose to pay up to 25 percent of the cost of the individual order to access additional advertising or other products and services offered by the third-party application or website. The bill defines "third-party food takeout and delivery service application or Internet website" to mean any third-party online food ordering or delivery service that allows a consumer to place an order for takeout or delivery from a restaurant but does not include any website that is owned, controlled, or managed by the restaurant itself. The provisions of this bill are to take effect immediately and expire on the first day of the twenty-fifth month following the date of enactment. During this time, the Director of the Division of Consumer Affairs is required to report to the Governor and the Legislature on the impact of the bill on restaurants, consumers, and third-party food takeout and delivery service applications or Internet websites and make a recommendation on whether the limit on service fees should be permanently adopted. An unlawful practice under the consumer fraud act, P.L.1960, c.39 (C.56:8-1 et seq.), is punishable by a monetary penalty of not more than $10,000 for first offense and not more than $20,000 for any subsequent offense. In addition, a violation can result in a cease and desist order issued by the Attorney General, the assessment of punitive damages, and the awarding of treble damages and costs to the injured. During the COVID-19 pandemic, similar legislation (P.L.2020, c.42, C.56:8-226) was adopted in order to ease the financial burden on restaurants that resulted from the limitations that were placed on indoor dining to help slow the spread of the virus. That legislation became inactive when the state of emergency was lifted in March 2022.

Committee Categories

Herbert Conaway (D)*, 

Introduced, Referred to Assembly Consumer Affairs Committee (on 11/30/2023)

Official Document