Food delivery app rules pass Senate, will head to Gov. DeSantis for approval

The House has voted unanimously to make a state preemption of rules over food delivery platforms law, passing the same measure that the Senate also passed unanimously last month.

SB 676, sponsored by Sen. Jennifer Bradley of Clay County, would relegate the regulation of “food delivery platforms” that corral orders from multiple restaurants to the government in Tallahassee.

The legislation is supported by a number of influential groups, including the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association, Grubhub, the Associated Industries of Florida, Uber Technologies, the Florida Chamber, TechNet and the James Madison Institute. The Digital Restaurant Association opposes the bill, meanwhile.

The bill requires delivery platforms to obtain the written or electronic consent of restaurants before picking up orders.

Platforms are required to remove restaurants within 10 days of a request to do so as well.

Delivery platforms also couldn’t intentionally inflate or deflate restaurant pricing.

Delivery platforms would also be required to itemize costs for their customers starting in July 2025 if this bill becomes law. Customers also would have unlimited rights to appeal disputed orders and transactions under this legislation.

Search engines that people use to get information on restaurants are exempt from this legislation, meanwhile

The Division of Hotels and Restaurants within the Department of Business and Professional Regulation would be tasked with enforcing this bill, which would expand its staff and its mission.

An analysis of the legislation anticipates it will need three additional staff and $309,705 for starters, but that money could be offset by the collection of fines for noncompliance. Those fines are capped at $1,000 in this legislation.

To implement this scheme, the bill appropriates $173,573 in recurring funds and $13,922 in nonrecurring funds from the Hotel and Restaurant Trust Fund and $113,749 in recurring funds and $8,461 in nonrecurring funds from the Administrative Trust Fund to the Department of Business and Professional Regulation.

The bill creates three jobs totaling $182,692 to implement this act as well.