NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A784
SPONSOR: McDonald TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the general business law, in relation to prohibiting
unauthorized listing of food places on the application and/or website of
food delivery platforms
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To prohibit third-party delivery applications from engaging in the
deceptive practice of listing restaurants on their applications without
a written agreement and contract with a restaurant.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1: Establishes the Consumer Transparency and Fairness Act.
Provides the definitions of food delivery platform as third party deliv-
ery applications and food places as restaurants as established in the
public health law. The section also prohibits food delivery platforms
from listing a food place on their app without consent and provides a
penalty for refusing to remove a restaurant listing after the restaurant
has requested removal.
Section 2: Establishes the effective date
JUSTIFICATION:
An issue that has arisen with the rise of usage of third-party food
delivery applications during the COVID-19 pandemic has been the unscru-
pulous practice by third-party food delivery application companies of
listing restaurants on their applications and websites as being a
participating restaurant when in fact they are not a partner and in some
cases have expressed refused to contract with and partner with the
third-party food delivery company. This results in confusion for the
consumer when an order is not fulfilled or unexpectedly cancelled and
additional work, for the restaurant to address the myriad issues that
result from these orders.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2019-20: A.11130
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None to the State.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
784
2021-2022 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY(Prefiled)
January 6, 2021
___________
Introduced by M. of A. McDONALD, FAHY, WOERNER -- read once and referred
to the Committee on Consumer Affairs and Protection
AN ACT to amend the general business law, in relation to prohibiting
unauthorized listing of food places on the application and/or website
of food delivery platforms
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The general business law is amended by adding a new section
2 391-v to read as follows:
3 § 391-v. Consumer transparency; food delivery platforms. 1. For the
4 purposes of this section, the following terms shall have the following
5 meanings:
6 (a) "Food delivery platform" means an online business including, but
7 not limited to, third-party food delivery application companies that act
8 as an intermediary between consumers and multiple food places to submit
9 food orders from a consumer to a participating food place, and to
10 arrange for the delivery of such order from such food place to the
11 consumer.
12 (b) "Food place" means any restaurant, dining room, food truck, or
13 other business engaged in the preparation and service of food for
14 consumption by the general public on or off premises.
15 2. A food delivery platform shall not arrange for the delivery of an
16 order from a food place without first entering into a written agreement
17 with such food place expressly authorizing such food delivery platform
18 to take orders and to deliver food and/or beverages prepared by such
19 food place.
20 3. A food delivery platform shall be prohibited from listing a food
21 place on its application and/or website as a participating food place
22 without first executing a written agreement pursuant to subdivision two
23 of this section.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD04821-01-1
A. 784 2
1 4. In the event a food delivery platform receives a written request
2 from a food place requesting that such food place be removed from such
3 food delivery platform's application and/or website, such food delivery
4 platform shall confirm receipt of such request and remove such food
5 place from its application and/or website immediately thereafter.
6 5. In the event that a food delivery platform does not remove a food
7 place from its application and/or website after receiving a request to
8 do so from such food place within five business days of receiving such
9 request, such food delivery platform shall be fined five hundred dollars
10 for each day such food delivery platform fails to remove such food place
11 from its application and/or website.
12 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
