Vetoed by Governor Gavin Newsom

Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to concur with Senate amendments and pass a bill that prohibits delivery platforms from charging restaurants for forwarded calls unless those calls resulted in an order.

Highlights:

• Specifies that a food delivery platform shall not arrange for the delivery or pickup of an order from a food facility without first obtaining a written agreement with the food facility expressly authorizing the food delivery platform to take orders and deliver or pickup meals prepared by the food facility (Sec. 3)

• Establishes that this legislation will all of the following (Sec. 3):

• Web-based platforms that provide information about food delivery services should provide accurate business information, and consumers have the right to know who they are doing business with;

• The Legislature believes that it is an unethical business practice to reroute telephone calls without consumer consent or knowledge through a third-party platform in order for the third-party platform to collect a referral fee, and third-party platforms should not charge food establishments for calls routed through their service that do not result in orders; and

• The Legislature considers the practice of leading customers to believe they are ordering directly from a food establishment, when they are actually being rerouted through a third-party platform in order to charge a referral fee, counter to public policy.

• Specifies that the written agreement will clearly and conspicuously disclose all of the following (Sec. 4):

• All possible charges or fees the food delivery platform may levy on the food facility; 

• Detailed information of how each possible charge or fee may be applied to the food facility;

• An estimation of each charge or fee and the percentage costs associated with them;

• Listing websites that are partnered with the food delivery platform; and

• The clear and conspicuous disclosures will be placed immediately above the signature line in the written agreement between the food delivery platform and food facility.

Full Bill Text