Alameda Municipal Code § 6-62 Third-Party Food Delivery Services

City means the City of Alameda.

Consumer Price Index means the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers ("CPI-U") for the San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA Region, published by the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Core product offering means a service that: (1) lists a retail food establishment, and makes the retail food establishment discoverable, with reasonable effort, on all modalities or platforms offered by a third-party food delivery service, including but not limited to any website, mobile application, or other internet service where a third-party food delivery service lists retail food establishments; and (2) facilitates and/or performs the delivery (through the third-party food delivery service, retail food establishments, or any other means) of food and/or beverages from retail food establishments to customers. The purpose of this definition is to ensure that retail food establishments have an affordable means of obtaining basic services from third-party food delivery services while preserving their freedom to contract for more services at a higher rate. Accordingly, core product offering does not include any other service that may be provided by a third-party food delivery service to a retail food establishment, including but not limited to advertising services, search engine optimization, business consulting, or payment processing.

Online order means a food and/or beverage order placed by a customer through a platform provided by a third-party food delivery service, including a telephone or software- or application-based order, for delivery or pick-up within the City.

Purchase price means the price, as listed on the menu, for the items contained in an online order. This definition does not include taxes or gratuities that may make up the total amount charged to the customer of an online order.

Retail food establishment means a restaurant, delicatessen, bakery, coffee shop, or other eat-in or carry-out service of processed or prepared food or beverages.

Service fee means any fee charged by a third-party food delivery service to a retail food establishment for providing the retail food establishment with a service that delivers or assists the purchase of food and beverages from such establishment to customers.

Third-party food delivery service means an online business that acts as an intermediary between consumers and multiple food facilities to submit food orders from a consumer to a participating food facility, and to arrange for the delivery of the order from the food facility to the consumer.

(Ord. No. 3289 N.S., § 1, 10-6-2020; Ord. No. 3339 N.S., § 1, 3-21-2023; Ord. No. 3384 N.S., § 1, 5-20-2025)

a. It shall be unlawful for a third-party food delivery service to charge a retail food establishment a service fee that totals more than fifteen (15%) percent of the purchase price of each online order, except as otherwise provided for in this article.

b. It shall be unlawful for a third-party food delivery service to increase any fee, cost, or commission, or establish any new fee, cost or commission, with respect to customers beyond those established on September 3, 2020, except that with respect to flat fees (i.e., non-percentage fees), such fees may be adjusted annually from 2020 onward by the percentage change in the consumer price index for the twelve (12) month period ending April of each year and rounded to the nearest one-tenth of a percent.

c. It shall be unlawful for a third-party food delivery service to charge a customer any purchase price for a food or beverage item that is higher than the price set by the retail food establishment on the third-party food delivery service or at the time of the order.

d. It shall be unlawful for a third-party food delivery service to retain any portion of amounts designated as a tip or gratuity for a online order. Any tip or gratuity shall be paid by the third-party delivery service, in its entirety, to the person delivering the food and/or beverages.

e. It shall be unlawful for a third-party food delivery service to collect any fee from a retail food establishment or its customers for a telephone order if a telephone call between such establishment and a customer made to place the order does not result in an actual transaction.

f. Beginning on March 1, 2023, the fee limit in subsection (a) of this Section 6-62.2 shall not apply to a third-party food delivery service that does both of the following:

1. Offers all retail food establishments the option to obtain or restore core product offering for a total fee, commission, or charge not to exceed fifteen (15%) percent of the purchase price of the online order, without requiring the purchase of additional services; and

2. Notifies any affected retail food establishment in writing of the ability of the option described in subsection (e)(1), and obtain a written wavier from the retail food establishment of their rights under subsection (a) of this Section 6-62.2. Retail food establishments shall have the right to rescind any such waiver, in writing, at any time.

g. Contracts between a third-party food delivery service and a retail food establishment shall clearly define the fees, commissions, or charges associated with contracted services.

(Ord. No. 3289 N.S., § 1, 10-6-2020; Ord. No. 3339 N.S., § 1, 3-21-2023; Ord. No. 3384 N.S., § 1, 5-20-2025)

a. Upon a request by a customer, the third-party food delivery service shall disclose to the customer an accurate, clearly identified, and itemized cost breakdown of each transaction between the customer and a retail food establishment that occurred through or was otherwise facilitated by the third-party food delivery service, including but not limited to the following:

1. The purchase price of the food and beverage;

2. A notice, if applicable, that the third-party food delivery service charges a fee, commission, or cost to the retail food establishment, fees, costs, or commissions charged to the retail food establishment for delivery services, unless the retail food establishment directs that the third-party food delivery service disclose to customers the delivery fee charged to the retail food establishment and each fee, commission, or cost charged to the retail food establishment;

3. All fees, costs, or commissions charged to the customer by the third-party food delivery service; and

4. Any tip or gratuity.

b. The third-party food delivery service shall annually disclose to the City a current breakdown of the proportion of businesses within the City electing to maintain core product offering in comparison to those electing to purchase additional marketing services.

(Ord. No. 3289 N.S., § 1, 10-6-2020; Ord. No. 3339 N.S., § 1, 3-21-2023; Ord. No. 3384 N.S., § 1, 5-20-2025)

a. Any person who violates any provision of this article shall be guilty of an infraction which shall be punishable by a fine not exceeding two hundred fifty ($250.00) dollars, or a misdemeanor, which shall be punishable by a fine not exceeding one thousand ($1,000.00) dollars, or by imprisonment in the County Jail for a period not exceeding six (6) months, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

b. Any person who violates any provision of this article may be subject to administrative citations issued pursuant to Article 1-7 of this Code.

c. The City Attorney, pursuant to Section 1-5.3 of this Code, or any aggrieved private party, may enforce, and seek to enjoin any violation of, this article by means of a civil action. The burden of proof in such cases shall be preponderance of the evidence. As part of any civil action brought by the City to enforce this article, a court shall assess a civil penalty in an amount up to one thousand ($1,000.00) dollars per violation, against any person who commits, continues to commit, operates, allows or maintains any violation of this article.

d. Any person convicted of violating any provision of this article in a criminal case or found to be in violation of this article in a civil or administrative case brought by a law enforcement agency, including but not limited to the City of Alameda, shall be ordered to reimburse the City and other participating law enforcement agencies their full investigative costs.

e. Any civil action initiated by a private party alleging a violation of any provision of this article shall commence only after the following requirements have been met:

1. Written notice is provided to the third-party food delivery service of the provisions of the article alleged to have been violated and the facts to support the alleged violation; and

2. The third-party food delivery service is provided fifteen (15) days from the date of the written notice to cure any alleged violation.

f. This article is not intended to, and does not, create any rights or benefits, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity, against the City of Alameda, its departments, officers, or employees.

g. The remedies provided in this article are cumulative, and nothing in this article shall preclude any person from seeking any other remedies, penalties or procedures provided by law.

(Ord. No. 3289 N.S., § 1, 10-6-2020; Ord. No. 3339 N.S., § 1, 3-21-2023; Ord. No. 3384 N.S., § 1, 5-20-2025)

a. Nothing in this article shall be construed as imposing a limitation on third-party food delivery service if doing so would be in violation of the Constitution of the United States, the Constitution of the State of California, or any applicable California state or federal law, as determined by an independent City hearing officer pursuant to this section. Accordingly, the requirements of this article shall not apply or shall be limited to an extent to avoid any unconstitutional or unlawful deprivation of the third-party food delivery service's rights.

b. Notwithstanding the limitations set forth in Section 1-8.01(a) of this Code, any third-party food delivery service seeking an exception from the requirements of this article shall file an application with the City that includes each and every contested issue or basis for the application, along with relevant evidence in support thereof, which shall be reviewed by a City hearing officer and constitute the City's final decision on the matter.

c. The burden of establishing by satisfactory factual proof of a constitutional deprivation, by a preponderance of the evidence, shall be on the third-party food delivery service.

d. No exception or limit shall be granted pursuant to this section unless a finding is made, based on satisfactory factual proof provided by the third-party food delivery service, of a constitutional or applicable statutory deprivation.

(Ord. No. 3289 N.S., § 1, 10-6-2020; Ord. No. 3339 N.S., § 1, 3-21-2023; Ord. No. 3384 N.S., § 1, 5-20-2025)

The City Manager, or his/her designee, shall have the authority to adopt all necessary guidelines, procedures, and regulations to implement the requirements and fulfill the policies and purposes of this article.

(Ord. No. 3289 N.S., § 1, 10-6-2020; Ord. No. 3339 N.S., § 1, 3-21-2023; Ord. No. 3384 N.S., § 1, 5-20-2025)

Editor's note— Ord. No. 3384 N.S., adopted May 20, 2025, repealed § 6-62.8, which pertained to sunset and derived from Ord. No. 3289 N.S., § 1, adopted Oct. 6, 2020; Ord. No. 3331 N.S., §; 1, adopted Nov. 1, 2022; Ord. No. 3339 N.S., § 1, adopted March 21, 2023.