Three San Diego City Council members asked Mayor Todd Gloria to use an executive action to place a cap on third-party delivery services fees Thursday.
The intention is to help struggling businesses as the COVID-19 pandemic continues.
Council members Stephen Whitburn, Marni von Wilpert and Raul Campillo sent a memo to Gloria Thursday urging him to use his power as mayor to restrict high fees on applications such as DoorDash, Uber Eats and Grubhub. The services charge fees to the restaurant for pickup and delivery.
“These third-party apps began taking advantage of the on-site dining prohibition by charging restaurants delivery fees of over 30% of the total order, creating an economic hardship,” they wrote.
The council members asked Gloria to cap fees at 15% of the price of an online order without reducing pay for delivery drivers.
“They are already operating at very thin margins and the delivery services’ commissions are exorbitant,” Campillo said. “Right now, every dollar counts, and I am happy to support locally-owned businesses over the interests of app-based delivery giants.”
State and regional stay-at-home orders prohibit dine-in service in San Diego County. Only take-out and delivery are currently permitted.
Gloria announced Thursday he was urging the council to extend pandemic-related eviction moratoriums for renters and businesses.