NPR

Cities Crack Down On Food Delivery App Fees As Restaurants Struggle To Survive

In a bid to help restaurants, cities from Seattle to Washington, D.C., have passed caps restricting how much food apps can charge to deliver meals. App companies claim the move might backfire.

For an idea of why independent restaurants have long complained about food delivery apps, just ask Anil Bathwal, who owns The Kati Roll Company, a group of New York City restaurants serving Indian street food.

Bathwal relied on a handful of food apps to supplement his dining-in purchases, despite hefty commissions the apps tack on to every sale; he used Grubhub-owned Seamless, Uber Eats, Postmates and other food-ferrying services.

If someone ordered two kati rolls for about $12, the apps took a hefty chunk of that sale: roughly

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