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CS/SB 940 — Third-party Reservation Platforms
by Regulated Industries Committee and Senator McClain
This summary is provided for information only and does not represent the opinion of any Senator, Senate Officer, or Senate Office.
Prepared by: Regulated Industries Committee (RI)
The bill prohibits a third-party reservation platform (platform) from listing, advertising, promoting, or selling reservations for a public food service establishment through a platform’s website, mobile application, or other Internet service without the platform having a contractual relationship or agreement with the food service establishment, or its contractual designee, to offer or arrange for reservations for on-premises service at such public food service establishment.
The bill defines the term “third-party reservation platform” to mean any website, mobile application, or other Internet service that:
- Offers or arranges for reservations for on-premises service for a customer at a food service establishment;
- Is owned and operated by a person other than the owner of the public food service establishment; and
- 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 public food service establishment for on-premises service.
Under the bill, the term “third-party reservation platform” does not include a contractual designee of an individual customer which arranges 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.
The Division of Hotels and Restaurants (division) within the Department of Business and Professional Regulation is authorized by the bill to impose a civil penalty on a platform not to exceed $1,000 for each violation of the prohibition in the bill, or of a division rule implementing the prohibition. Under the bill, violations may accrue on a daily basis for each day and each reservation for each food service establishment in which there has been a violation.
If approved by the Governor, or allowed to become law without the Governor’s signature, these provisions take effect July 1, 2025.
Vote: Senate 37-0; House 114-0