Amendment #157 to H4879

Third Party Vendors

Mr. Day of Stoneham moves to amend the bill by adding at the end thereof the following new section:

SECTION ##. (a) As used in this section, the following words shall, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, have the following meanings:-

“Covered establishment”, a restaurant or other eating or drinking establishment offering same-day food or drink for sale in a single commercial transaction through any third-party delivery service platform, from 1 or more retail locations within the commonwealth.

“COVID-19 emergency”, the state of emergency declared by the governor on March 10, 2020 in order to address the outbreak of the 2019 novel coronavirus, also known as COVID-19.

“Customer”, an individual using a third-party delivery service platform to place an online order.

“Delivery fee,” a fee charged by a third-party delivery service for providing a covered establishment with a service that delivers food from such establishment to customers.  The term does not include any other fee that may be charged by a third-party delivery service to a covered establishment, such as fees for listing or advertising the covered establishment on the third-party delivery service platform or fees related to processing the online order.

“Online order”, an order for food or drinks placed by a customer through a third-party delivery service platform provided by a third-party delivery service company for pickup or delivery in the commonwealth.

“Purchase price”, the menu price publicly offered on the third-party delivery service platform by a covered establishment. The purchase price shall not include any taxes, gratuities or other fees that may make up the total cost charged to the customer for an online order.

“Third-party delivery service company”, a corporation, partnership, sole proprietorship or other entity qualified to do business in the commonwealth that is engaged in facilitating same-day delivery or pickup of food and beverages through a third-party delivery service platform for 20 or more separately owned and operated covered establishments.

“Third-party delivery service platform”, any online enabled application, software, website or system offered or utilized by a third-party delivery service company to facilitate the sale of food and beverages prepared by, and the same-day delivery or same-day pickup of food and beverages from, covered establishments.

(b) Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, no third-party delivery service company, from the effective date of this act and for a period of 45 days after the termination of the COVID-19 emergency, shall charge a covered establishment a delivery fee per online order for the use of its services and fees other than a delivery fee that totals more than 15 per cent of the purchase price of the online order in the aggregate; provided, however, that no third-party delivery service company shall charge a covered establishment any fee or fees other than a delivery fee for the use of their services greater than 5 per cent of the purchase price of such online order.

(c) This act shall preempt, supersede or nullify any inconsistent, contrary or conflicting local law, ordinance, rule or regulation relating to third-party delivery service platforms and third-party delivery service companies fees, including with respect to any agreements with covered establishments using third-party delivery service companies.

(d) A violation of this section shall be an unfair and deceptive trade practice in violation of chapter 93A of the General Laws.

Additional co-sponsor(s) added to Amendment #157 to H4879

Third Party Vendors