In October 2021, San Francisco asked a federal court to dismiss DoorDash and Grubhub’s challenge to its 15% cap on certain restaurant commissions. The city’s filing argued that the cap helped independent restaurants survive high platform fees. It was the city’s argument in a motion, not a court finding.
I originally called the cap bad for drivers and consumers without showing how either group was affected. That’s too easy. A cap can protect a restaurant’s margin, and a platform can respond by changing consumer fees, advertising charges, delivery areas, or courier pay. I’d want to see those changes before choosing a winner in the policy fight.
My instinct is still to distrust a permanent price cap as a substitute for competition. But restaurant owners also had a fair complaint about bargaining power. The worthwhile question was whether the rule changed the total cost of a delivered meal or only moved it to another line on the receipt.