Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

County puts meal-delivery firms GrubHub, Postmates on notice for license violations

GrubHub

Richard Drew / AP

GrubHub CEO Matthew Maloney, third from right, is applauded as he rings the New York Stock Exchange opening bell, Friday, April 4, 2014. Investors sent shares of online food ordering service GrubHub Inc. up 51 percent to $39.20 in early trading in its stock market debut Friday.

Clark County officials have notified app-based delivery companies GrubHub and Postmates that they failed to comply with county licensing requirements. Notices were sent out last week after an inquiry from the Sun about whether an ordinance to regulate Uber and Lyft applied to the companies.

“GrubHub and Postmates are not licensed,” county spokesman Erik Pappa wrote in an email Sept. 12. “An agent is following up to issue a notice of violation giving them 10 days to come into compliance.”

The companies are in contact with the county, said Dan Kulin, another spokesman, and are expected to come into compliance soon. GrubHub and Postmates did not reply to emails requesting comment.

On-demand food delivery has become an increasingly popular service. It allows customers to order takeout from restaurants and fast-food chains, groceries or office supplies through a mobile app. So popular are the services that Uber launched its own food delivery service this month, UberEats.

The county is requiring GrubHub and Postmates to obtain a $150 annual delivery license. It is unclear whether Uber, which is licensed to move passengers around the county as a transportation network company, will be required to get a second business license to cover its expansion into delivery.

Like Uber and Lyft, GrubHub and Postmates use independent contractors as drivers.

As part of an effort to regulate Uber and Lyft last fall, the county created a new licensing category for drivers who work as independent contractors. The result was that each independently contracted driver — whether delivering pizza, driving for Lyft or working for GrubHub — must obtain a $25 license. That license is not tied to one company and allows drivers to contract with multiple on-demand services.

“If you’re an Uber or Lyft driver and have a license, you are also licensed for UberEats,” Kulin said.

But according to the county’s online records, it appears some independently contracted drivers have yet to comply with the rule. Since the license was created in December, about 4,200 drivers have obtained a license to drive as an independent contractor. Uber alone has about 10,000 drivers in the county.

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