Delivery

Cincinnati city council caps delivery fees at 15%

Cincinnati, Ohio is the latest U.S. city to put a temporary cap on how much third-party delivery companies can charge. (Photo: iStock)

May 22, 2020

Add Cincinnati, Ohio to the growing list of cities that are capping third-party delivery fees. Thursday, the local city council passed legislation that caps food delivery fees at 15%, with the measure going into effect immediately for the next 90 days, according to WLWT-TV news in Cincinnati. 

Numerous restaurants in the city have already permanently closed their doors, as is the case nationwide, due to lack of sales and other challenges. And app commissions for delivery were more manageable pre-pandemic when delivered food comprised a smaller percentage of a restaurant's sales. 

But since the pandemic has forced many restaurants into depending on delivery for a large chunk of sales, the city's council saw increasing fees as both unnecessary and damaging. 

"We're just saying during this period of pandemic when these restaurants are not allowed to operate normally, when they're not allowed to operate at full capacity, let's have a reasonable commission fee here so the restaurants can survive because otherwise they're not going to make it," Sittenfeld told us," Cincinnati City Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld told the news station. 

That 15% cap was also just passed in New York City and similar caps have been placed on delivery fees in the nation's capital, as well as San Francisco, Seattle and other jurisdictions.