Restaurant Operators:
Tell the FTC About Your Experiences With Third-Party Delivery Apps

Deadline: May 18, 2026

The Federal Trade Commission is investigating whether third-party delivery apps are using deceptive and unfair practices that harm restaurants and consumers. They are seeking public comments through May 18, 2026. Your real-world experience is exactly what they need to hear!

This information will likely be used to draft new laws to regulate fees and practices of the delivery app marketplaces. It may be that the big apps would also face fines for deceptive practices under current laws.

The big apps spend a lot of money on lobbyists.This is YOUR OPPORTUNITY to make sure independent businesses are heard.

There are two ways you can prepare a statement:

1. Look over the list below to remind you of what’s been happening and then write your own comment to copy in the box on the FTC page.
2. Use our automated comment builder to get started and then edit the output to reflect your personal experiences. The more you can use your own words, the more effective your statement will be!

In both cases, you can include relevant documents as proof of questionable practices. This is entirely optional, but very helpful to the FTC for drafting rules to govern the way the apps work.

Documents could include:

• Evidence of revenue you lost to platform fees
• Info about fees that weren’t in your original contact(s)
• Driver issues that you had to pay for
• Unwarranted chargebacks

If you can, include specific details, such as dates, dollar amounts and descriptions of how these practices impacted your business.
Then, share those comments directly with the FTC on its government website. There is a green button to Add a file right under the FTC comment window so you can upload docs there.

Note: Restaurant Fee Hub cannot submit comments for anyone. You need to submit those personally on the FTC website.

1. Check out examples of fee policies and business practices you can report to the FTC.

Skip ahead to comment builder if that’s easier.

The following are issues that many independent restaurant operators have experienced and complained about. The list might remind you of experiences at your business.

• High fees and commissions:
  • It’s hard to make a profit when app take 15% to 30% of restaurant revenue — and that can be closer to 40% with additional fees added on.
  • Commission rates can go up by as much as 1/3 with just 10 days’ notice.
  • Processing fees are added on top of commission rates.

• Contract issues:
  • The apps send out 30-page contracts only a lawyer could understand.
  • Fees are not clearly explained in contracts.
  • Impossible to keep track of contant contract changes.

• Restaurants pay for app and driver mistakes:
  • Apps accept orders when no drivers are available. Restaurants cook the food and absorb the loss when drivers don’t show up.
  • If deliveries are late, restaurants pay for customer refunds even though they don’t hire or control drivers.

• Apps keep the money restaurants earn for up to a week:
  • It takes days for restaurants to get paid by the apps, even though expenses are ongoing.
  • There is no recourse or appeals process to dispute chargebacks by the apps. It’s impossible to speak to a real person to discuss it.

• Surge pricing only benefits apps:
  • Customers are charged extra for orders during peak hours, but the extra money never benefits the restaurants.

• Reviews & Reputation
  • Restaurants get negative reviews when drivers are late or get lost, but restaurants can’t control that.
  • Customers post negative reviews about app pricing or surge pricing, which restaurants don’t control.
  • Addressing reviews is complicated or impossible after a short window of time.

• Rankings in the apps are mysterious or pay-to-play:
  • No clear explanation of how restaurants are ranked in the apps.
  • Restaurants are constantly pressured to purchase ads or offer discounts. If they don’t, they risk losing rank in the apps.

• Customer membership programs are a “double dip” for the apps:      
  • Apps pocket 100% of monthly subscription fees (approximately $9.99/month) from customers, but charge restaurants higher commissions to serve these customers.

• Fake restaurant websites and phone numbers:
  • Apps impersonate restaurants with fake websites and phone numbers to hijack customers.
  • Fake websites to show up higher in Google (and other search engines) than real restaurant websites.
  • Customers are tricked into ordering from fake websites, then the apps force restaurants to pay commissions on those orders.

2. Use the FTC comment builder — then refine your comment to make it your own.