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S 2781Consumer Protection

Commercial Law - General Regulatory Provisions - Third-Party Delivery Systems

This bill bans apps from listing restaurants or selling reservations without the restaurant's written permission.

Introduced
Population
Affected
25
Email Legislator
Introduced Mar 4, 2026Committee Senate Commerce

Plain-English Summary

This legislation prohibits third-party delivery services and reservation platforms from listing a restaurant or using its logo without a written agreement. It defines "unauthorized placement" and prevents these platforms from bidding on advertisements using a merchant's name without consent. The bill establishes the "Restaurant Reservation Anti-Piracy Act," which bans third-party services from selling or arranging reservations without a contract. It allows restaurants to sue for damages, with a minimum of $5,000 for violations, and imposes civil penalties of up to $1,000 per day payable to the state for non-compliance.

For younger readers

Imagine you have a lemonade stand. Sometimes, strangers might try to sell your lemonade or promise people they can save a spot in line at your stand without asking you first. This bill creates a rule that says these companies cannot use a restaurant's name or sell seats at their tables unless the restaurant owner says it is okay. If the companies break this rule, they have to pay money as a punishment. This helps restaurant owners control their own business and makes sure customers aren't tricked.

Who & Where It Applies

Impacted groups
Restaurant ownersThird-party delivery appsReservation booking servicesConsumersGig economy workers
Impacted communities
All

Constitutional & Fiscal Check

None Likely

Estimated cost
None
Estimated revenue
Amount unknown

Bill Analysis

Both viewpoints
For Progressives
  • Protects small, local business owners from exploitation by large technology corporations that profit from their labor and intellectual property without consent.
  • Prevents consumers from being misled by unauthorized middlemen, ensuring greater transparency and fairness in the marketplace.
  • Empowers local restaurants to maintain control over their branding, pricing, and customer relationships, resisting the consolidation of power by gig-economy platforms.
  • Could potentially reduce the online visibility of some small restaurants that rely on passive discovery through third-party aggregation platforms, affecting their revenue.
  • Relying on civil lawsuits for enforcement places the financial and time burden on small business owners to initiate legal action against well-funded tech companies.
  • Might limit options for consumers who rely on specific third-party apps for accessibility or convenience if those apps cannot secure contracts with every restaurant.
For Conservatives
  • Strengthens property rights by ensuring business owners have exclusive control over their intellectual property, brand name, and operational decisions.
  • Prevents unauthorized third parties from interfering with private business contracts and the direct relationship between a merchant and their customer.
  • Establishes clear penalties for deceptive business practices and unauthorized use of likeness, upholding the rule of law and commercial integrity.
  • Interferes with the free market by restricting how third-party platforms can aggregate public information and offer services to willing consumers.
  • Imposes government regulations and fines on private technology companies, potentially stifling innovation and business growth in the gig economy.
  • Creates a new regulatory framework that expands government oversight into private commercial interactions between platforms and businesses.

Votes

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Full Bill Text

Changes to existing Rhode Island law · 64 additions · 6 deletions

SECTION 1. Sections 6-58-1, 6-58-3 and 6-58-5 of the General Laws in Chapter 6-58 entitled "Third-Party Delivery Systems" are hereby amended to read as follows: 6-58-1. Definitions. As used in this title, unless the context otherwise requires:

(1) "Advertising platform" means any digital, online, mobile, mapping, search, operating- system level, or voice-activated platform that displays merchant information, search results, sponsored listings, or provides order interfaces. (1)(2) “Agreement” means a written contractual agreement between the merchant and the third-party delivery service. (2)(3) “Customer” means the person, business, or other entity that places an order for merchant products through the marketplace. (3)(4) “Likeness” means identifiable symbols attributed and easily identified as belonging to a specific merchant or retailer. (4)(5) “Marketplace” means the third party’s proprietary online communication platform where customers can view and search the menus of merchants and place an order for merchant products via the third party’s website or mobile application for delivery or by the third-party delivery service, or an independent contractor of the third-party delivery service, to the customer. (5)(6) “Merchant” means a food service establishment as set forth in § 21-27-1 or other retail entity.

(7) "Order interface" means any button, hyperlink, embedded feature, or interactive element that allows or invites a consumer to initiate, place or complete an order from a merchant on an advertising platform. (6)(8) “Third-party delivery service” means a company, organization, or entity, outside of the operation of the merchant’s business that facilitates delivery or online ordering services to customers.

(9) "Unauthorized placement" means any appearance, promotion, advertisement, or order interface on an advertising platform by a third-party delivery service of a merchant without an agreement. 6-58-3. Merchant consent.

(a) A third-party delivery service may not take orders and arrange for the delivery of merchant products through the third-party delivery service’s marketplace without obtaining the written consent of the merchant.

(b) No third-party delivery service shall purchase, bid on, display, allow or cause to be displayed any advertisement, sponsored result, or promoted listing, or other unauthorized placement including, but not limited to, using a merchant's name, trademark, service mark, logo, trade name, or likeness on any advertising platform unless expressly authorized by agreement with a merchant. 6-58-5. Enforcement — Penalties.

(a) Any merchant who is subject to an unauthorized placement or other violation of § 6- 58-3, whose likeness was used by the third-party delivery service, or who appears on a third-party delivery service’s marketplace, in violation of this chapter, may bring an action in the superior court of the county in which the merchant or third-party delivery service is found, or in the superior court of the county as is otherwise provided by law, to recover actual damages or five thousand dollars ($5,000), whichever is greater. The court may, in its discretion, and where the conduct involves reckless or callous indifference to statutorily protected rights, award punitive damages and other equitable relief it deems appropriate.

(b) Any third-party delivery service who or that violates this chapter shall pay to the state a civil penalty of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) per violation. Each day a violation occurs shall count as a separate violation.

SECTION 2. Title 6 of the General Laws entitled "COMMERCIAL LAW — GENERAL REGULATORY PROVISIONS" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following chapter: 6-58.1-1. Short title. This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Restaurant Reservation Anti-Piracy Act." 6-58.1-2. Definitions.

(a) As used in this chapter, the following words shall have the following meanings:

(1) "Food service establishment" means any fixed or mobile restaurant, coffee shop, cafeteria, short-order café, luncheonette, grill, tearoom, sandwich shop, soda fountain, tavern, bar, cocktail lounge, night club, roadside stand, industrial feeding establishment, cultural heritage education facility, private, public or nonprofit organization or institution routinely serving food, catering kitchen, commissary or similar place in which food or drink is prepared for sale or for service on the premises or elsewhere, and any other eating or drinking establishment or operation where food is served or provided for the public with or without charge.

(2) "Third-party restaurant reservation service" means a website, mobile application, or other Internet service that:

(i) Offers or arranges for a reservation at a food service establishment for on-premises service;

(ii) Is owned and operated by a person other than the person who owns the food service establishment, or is contractual;

(iii) Does not have a contractual relationship or agreement with the public food service establishment, or its contractual designee, to offer or arrange for a reservation at the food service establishment for on-premises service. A third-party restaurant reservation service does not include a contractual designee of an individual customer which arrange for a personal and nontransferable reservation at a food service establishment at the request of the customer and at no cost to the customer; provided that, the designee shares the individual customer's contact information with the food service establishment, allows the food service establishment to confirm the reservation with the individual customer, and honors requests from the food service establishment to opt out of future reservations created by the designee. 6-58.1-3. Prohibition of third-party restaurant reservation services. A third-party restaurant reservation service shall not list, advertise, promote, facilitate, sell, or otherwise enable a reservation at a food service establishment in this state. 6-58.1-4. Enforcement -- Penalties. Any person who violates, or causes another person to violate, a provision of this chapter or any rules or regulations promulgated by the department of business regulation hereunder shall be subject to a civil penalty of up to one thousand dollars ($1,000) for each violation. Each day that a third-party restaurant reservation service violates this chapter with respect to a food service establishment constitutes a single violation of this chapter. A proceeding to recover any civil penalty or restitution under this chapter may also be brought by the attorney general. All penalties received for violations shall be deposited as general revenue.

SECTION 3. This act shall take effect on January 1, 2027.