Massachusetts Legislature Approves Fee Caps for Third-Party Delivery Apps

Now more than ever, maybe skip the delivery app and pick up your takeout order yourself.

As part of the $626 million economic development bill recently passed on Beacon Hill, the Massachusetts legislature voted to approve a 15-percent fee cap for third-party delivery companies like Caviar, Grubhub, DoorDash, and Uber Eats that charge local restaurants for their service. 

According to Boston Eater, Massachusetts Restaurants United (MRU) a restaurant advocacy group have been calling for these kind of fee caps since the pandemic started. Unfortunately the City of Boston and the state legislature could not come to an agreement until now. The fee caps will stick around for as long as the pandemic and will not apply to restaurants with more than 20 locations like chains. 

These fees are believed to have cost local restaurants a crazy amount of cash! Just another reason to call or order online directly and pick it up yourself! Here’s a list of local spots! 

Also part of this bill is a $20 million fun to help the struggling restaurant industry and will prioritize “independently owned and operated restaurants, seasonal restaurants and geographic equity,” as well as “socially or economically disadvantaged businesses, which may include, but shall not be limited to, minority owned, women owned, veteran owned, and immigrant owned small businesses.”

The bill is now on Gov. Charlie Baker’s desk for his signature.  If it gets signed, the new cap and grants will go into affect.