RENSSELAER, N.Y. (NEWS10) – On August 31, the Rensselaer County Legislature Office of the Minority announced Democratic legislators have introduced a Local Law “Restaurant Protection Law”. This Local Law will prevent third-party food delivery services from unauthorized advertising of a restaurant’s menu and charging additional ordering fees.

In April, Democrats submitted a resolution urging NYS to cap food service delivery fees at 15%. This resolution was passed by a 12-7 vote.

Third party delivery services have been advertising menus on their online platforms without a restaurant’s knowledge. This local law will address these issues and require third party food delivery services to have contracts with restaurants that have a written agreement eliminating unauthorized charges.

“At present third party food delivery services are not required to have a restaurant’s permission to advertise menus on their platforms. This is inconceivable! Recognizing that restaurant owners are being taken advantage of has ignited us to introduce this law,” said Minority Leader Peter Grimm.

“Imagine menus being advertised without the knowledge of the business owner, yet they are held accountable for the order,” stated Deputy Minority Leader Cindy Doran. “And imagine the posted information to be incorrect, complaints ensue, and the reputation of a restaurant could be damaged,” continued Cindy Doran.

“While we support third party food delivery services, as they have been a life line to the restaurant industry, they need to be fair and equitable to all,” stated Minority Leader Grimm.