Boston City Council Passes Delivery App Safety Ordinance in 11-2 Vote

BOSTON — April 2, 2025 — Boston City Council passes delivery platform ordinance requiring permits, insurance, and data sharing. The council voted 11-2 Wednesday to approve an ordinance, championed by Councillor Gabriela Coletta Zapata of the Committee on Government Operations, requiring third-party food delivery platforms that process more than 1 million annual orders — including DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub — to obtain permits from the Boston Transportation Department, carry liability insurance of at least $50,000 per person per accident, and submit anonymized quarterly delivery data to the city. Operators without a valid permit face fines of $300 per day per restaurant or per order. A proposed 15-cent-per-order fee, advanced by Councillor Sharon Durkan, was stripped from the final draft; Durkan said the platforms' lobbyists had "got a win on the Boston City Council today." Councillors Erin J. Murphy and John FitzGerald voted no. The council also unanimously approved a $38,148,052 Community Preservation Fund appropriation covering 44 projects and passed a $20 million federal RAISE grant to reconstruct three Roxbury corridors — Malcolm X Boulevard, Dudley Street, and Warren Street.