(Montreal) Quebec is tired of the arbitrary fees imposed on restaurants by Uber Eats and Doordash in this world and their refusal to set these fees.
The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, André Lamontani, introduced a bill Thursday to force them to curb their appetite, without which they face huge fines.
The bill imposes 87 delivery charges, with a maximum of 15% of the order amount before taxes and a maximum of 5% for internet service if the delivery is made by or on behalf of the order service, for a total of 20%. It also imposes a maximum of 10% for internet service on order when the delivery is made by someone other than the web service.
The penalty is heavy for those who will try to defy the law: it provides fines from $ 5,000 to $ 500,000, in the case of a natural person, and $ 15,000 to $ 1.5 million, in other cases. The minimum and maximum fines that will be “doubled in the event of a repeat offense”.
The targeted giants
These measures are aimed at big players only, as they apply to “a third party providing restaurant delivery services to at least 500 restaurants.” In addition, it applies only to restaurants “whose dining room has been closed due to sanitary measures” and will not be effective once the health emergency is lifted.
The bill also closes the door to a loophole that could have been used by delivery services by specifying that they cannot reduce the amount paid to the person performing the delivery to reach the percentages stipulated by law. Such a reduction in wages to circumvent the law is also punishable by the aforementioned fines.
The minister has asked the three largest companies providing these services – Uber Eats, Doordash and Skype the Days – to set their fees voluntarily. Only Canadian company SkipTheDishes, known as Skip, has agreed that it has already charged 20%.
Pressure and legal recourse
The opposition parties, Association Restauration Québec and even Montreal have asked the Legault government to intervene in the file.
A class action suit was also filed in the Supreme Court by a Montreal restaurant owner in mid-January. In his request, the latter claimed that commissions “exceeding 15% of the client’s demand are disproportionate, nurturing and abusive, and thus violate Article 1437 of the Civil Code of Quebec.”
The class-action claim representative, Montreal’s Deli Boyz Restaurant, is also seeking damages and is seeking an injunction to cap costs to 15% of the order amount.
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