Who’s Delivering My Food? New California Law Requires Name and Photo Disclosure

Uber Eats had 26 percent of California's app-based food-delivery market in 2021, trailing DoorDash's 56 percent but ahead of Grubhub's 18 percent. (Eva Plevier/Reuters)

Food delivery platforms will have new rules to follow in California beginning March 1, 2025, requiring the names and photos of drivers be provided to customers for their safety.

Assembly Bill 375, authored by Assemblywoman Laurie Davies, clears up some of the “gray areas” that may arise when technology meant to benefit businesses and consumers also creates public safety concerns, according to the Laguna Niguel-based Republican.

The bill points out that while contact-free delivery may be an advantage of using the platforms, that option is not available to people living in a college dorm or secure apartment complex. Those customers must receive their order directly from the delivery person, so they should have the security of knowing the person’s name and image beforehand, the bill says.

Ms. Davies adds that customers with that information will be more helpful to law enforcement “should an unfortunate incident occur,” according to a Senate analysis of the bill.

The bill received Gov. Gavin Newsom’s signature July 15 and joins a list of laws passed since 2020 to add controls to app-based services in California.

According to the analysis, the sales of delivery platforms such as DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub took off at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, growing by 122 percent in 2020, while the restaurant industry in turn was “decimated” with about four in 10 restaurants closing at the same time.

While such services provide access to customers, they also take hefty commissions, usually around 30 percent of the sales price, in an industry that already faces thin profit margins. Three platforms control the food delivery industry, with DoorDash and its subsidiaries making up 56 percent of sales in the state in 2021, Uber Eats and its subsidiaries 26 percent, and Grubhub about 18 percent, according to the analysis.

To address a number of issues facing the industry, the Fair Food and Delivery Act of 2020 mandated that delivery platforms ask restaurants for permission before listing their food on the apps, with more protections added over the years.

Several lawsuits at the time accused the platforms of unfair business practices, such as the misuse of restaurants’ names and logos or listing delivery services for restaurants without their permission, overwhelming them and leading to quality and safety problems, according to the analysis.

In 2021, Assembly Bill 286 added to the protections, prohibiting the platforms from marking up food or beverage prices. It also banned platforms from keeping any tips or gratuities were meant for delivery partners and restaurants.

Ms. Davies’s bill is the first to focus on the “safety of customers at the point of delivery,” according to the analysis.

“This kind of information could help local law enforcement and the application itself track down who was responsible and allow the legal system to proceed promptly,” Ms. Davies said.