Catering: QS wants to cap delivery fees at 20%
Québec solidaire proposed on Sunday to limit to 20% the fees that platforms such as DoorDash, Uber Eats and SkipTheDishes can charge merchants.
< p class="e-p">Currently, delivery platforms charge absolutely incredible percentages to restaurateurs, says the solidarity manager for economy and finance, Haroun Bouazzi.
According to him, restaurants have had a lot of trouble during the COVID pandemic and are certainly not at the end of their troubles when there is a recession looming.
The 20% maximum had been applied during the pandemic thanks to a bill tabled in March 2021 by the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, André Lamontagne.
This law, whose application ended with the lifting of the health emergency, only concerned restaurants whose dining room was closed or whose opening hours were reduced due to sanitary measures.
In the context of a pandemic, we have implemented exceptional measures to help restaurateurs get through the crisis, supports Minister Lamontagne's office in a written communication.
He says he works in collaboration with the ARQ [Association Restauration Québec] and the City of Montreal on new delivery solutions.
Mr. Bouazzi, for his part, is convinced that capping fees permanently would either raise the profit margin of restaurateurs or lower the price paid by customers. Either way, it's a good thing, he thinks.
Québec solidaire launches this call the day after the publication of an investigation by La Presse which reports prices beyond the maximum allowed and taxes collected illegally by delivery sites.
According to Mr. Bouazzi, these revelations represent only the tip of the iceberg since these are companies that operate all the time in the world; illegality or in loopholes.
He cites the stored data, working conditions and status of delivery people and accounting tricks to avoid paying taxes as issues that should be legislated against.
DoorDash did not wish to participate in an interview. Our mission is to strengthen local economies, the company argued by email. We are working with our merchant partners to support them.
Uber Eats has also preferred to respond in writing. Over the past few years, we have talked a lot with local restaurateurs to learn more about their needs. (…) Thus, a little over a year ago, we reviewed our pricing structure, which is more flexible, in order to offer more choice to restaurateurs, said Jonathan Hamel, public affairs manager for Uber in Quebec.
SkipTheDishes did not immediately respond to messages from The Canadian Press.
