LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — The Nevada Legislature is considering a bill to cap fees charged by third-party food delivery apps like Door Dash or Uber Eats and others regarding restaurant delivery. Various businesses in the Las Vegas Valley, including Tacotarian in Downtown Las Vegas, support the new bill after having issues with third-party food service providers.
“It’s going to show the foodservice how evil these guys are, honestly,” said Carlos Corral, the co-owner of Tacotarian.
Corral co-owns the plant-based Mexican food restaurant. He says take-out orders increased by more than 50% since the start of the pandemic, but third-party providers, such as Postmates, Uber Eats, Door Dash and Grubhub take as much as 30% of each order.
However, Senate Bill 320 would cap that at 20% during the state of emergency. Critics argue the bill may reduce foodservice availability and possibly make delivery more expensive. While propoents say, it can help restaurants make up the money they have lost because of capacity restrictions.
“The intent behind the cap is that it’s just for the remainder of the emergency order,” said Alexandria Dazlich, the director of government and public relations for the Nevada Restaurant Association. “We don’t intend to play or mess with the free market after the pandemic.”
The bill also addresses billing transparency, third-party platforms making commissions public, and menu stealing. Restaurant owners say some companies take their menus and post them online without their consent.
“They will use a menu that is a year or two years old, and you don’t have those items anymore,” Corral said. “So you the restaurant look bad to the eyes of the customer, and you get a bad review.”
Restaurants in the valley are partnering to launch their own food delivery service next month called “Loco Las Vegas.” It’s owned by restaurants for restaurants to compete with food delivery service platforms.
Clark County Commissioners approved an emergency ordinance in August prohibiting third-party delivery services from charging restaurants more than 15% of the online order price.
