Quebec restaurants, about to go delivery-only after 8 p.m., call for cap on third-party fees

Quebec restaurants are asking the government to make new rules for deliveries during the curfew.

The province has already allowed some work arounds, allowing restaurants to continue delivering food and alchohol after they’re forced to close street access at 7:30 p.m.

• READ: Here's what you can and cannot do under Quebec's COVID-19 curfew

But delivery isn’t cheap for the consumer or for the restaurant. 

For businesses that use a third-party delivery app, like Uber Eats or Foodora, fees can reach as high as 30 per cent. 

“Restaurants work on 6 to 8 per cent [profit] margins in the best of times,” said Peter Mammas, CEO of Foodtastic, a restaurant franchising company. 

“When an aggregator is taking 30 per cent out of that whole chunk, it’s a big number.” 

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Businesses that rely on foot traffic are expecting a big hit. 

Depanneurs, which see a large portion of their clientele in the evening, will also have to close at 7:30 p.m.

Unlike restaurants, however, deps will not be able to deliver after 7:30.

Yves Servais, general director of the Quebec Depanneurs Association, says he hopes people will adjust their schedules to shop before curfew.

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  The Uber Eats app is seen in an undated image from the company.