Seattle mayor talks capping third-party delivery fees to protect restaurants

Restaurants trying to stay afloat are charged fees from apps like Seamless.

ByAllie Yang and Ariane Nalty
April 30, 2020, 1:51 PM

With so many restaurants across the United States shuttered to dine-in customers, some eating establishments are trying to stay afloat by offering takeout and delivery. But oftentimes, this leaves them beholden to third-party delivery apps like Grubhub and DoorDash, which charge the businesses a fee.

On Friday, Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan issued an emergency order capping these fees from third-party delivery apps to 15% and mandating that 100% of tips go to drivers.

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“We heard from so many businesses who are struggling to stay open and to feed families, front-line workers and keep people employed, and some of the fees that were being charged were just outrageous,” Durkan told ABC News' "Pandemic: What You Need to Know."

PHOTO: Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan speaks at a news conference about the coronavirus outbreak March 16, 2020, in Seattle.
Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan speaks at a news conference about the coronavirus outbreak March 16, 2020, in Seattle.
Elaine Thompson/Getty Images, FILE

San Francisco issued a similar order earlier this month, also capping third-party delivery fees at 15%. Los Angeles, Chicago and New York City are also reportedly considering a cap to third-party fees.

“You had owners of businesses … doing the deliveries themselves and working around the clock,” Durkan said. “So we, working with our city council, decided … what we needed to do for those small businesses: We were going to put a cap in place. We think it's fair and we think it also is one that, if it's challenged, it will hold up.”

Tune in to ABC at 1 p.m. ET and ABC News Live at 4 p.m. ET every weekday for special coverage of the novel coronavirus with the full ABC News team, including the latest news, context and analysis.Durkan also weighed in on when and how her city will reopen.

“We know we need broad-scale testing and the ability for contact tracing. We need to go and find everybody who's had contact with someone who's positive to see if they are testing positive and need to be quarantined,” Durkan said. “We don't have that yet here and we're going to need it before we reopen.”