COLORADO — State lawmakers are considering a bill that would allow local governments to place restrictions on fees by third party delivery services during a public health emergency. The bill would also restrict third-party companies from reducing delivery driver pay to offset the cost of the fee reduction.
Cities already have the capability to restrict fees, this would give counties and statutory towns in Colorado the ability to do the same.
As more and more restaurants rely on delivery services during the pandemic, it's created some challenges.
Representative Shannon Bird (Westminster-D), the bill's sponsor, said in a committee hearing this week in some cases the fees charged to restaurants nearly wipe out any profit the restaurant could have made.
The bill allows counties to adopt these rules during a public health emergency and when capacity is reduced to fifty percent or less for restaurants. Counties would not be able to restrict credit card processing fees for the delivery services.
Opponents of the bill have said delivery services will pull out of certain areas if they don't see a reasonable profit. Opponents also raised an issue on whether the bill fits into the scope of the special session.
The Colorado Restaurant Association supports the bill.
