S1193 S1197 SCS

Sponsored by:

Senator KRISTIN M. CORRADO

District 40 (Bergen, Essex and Passaic)

Senator JOSEPH A. LAGANA

District 38 (Bergen)

Co-Sponsored by:

Senators Gopal and Polistina

SYNOPSIS

Bans unauthorized restaurant reservation arrangement by third-party reservation service.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

Substitute as adopted by the Senate Commerce Committee.

An Act concerning restaurant reservations and supplementing P.L.1960, c.39 (C.56:8-1 et seq.).

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. a. As used in this act:

“Food service establishment” means a place where food is provided for individual portion service directly to the consumer whether that food is provided free of charge or sold, and whether consumption occurs on or off the premises or is provided from a pushcart, stand, or vehicle.

“Third-party restaurant reservation service” means any website, mobile application, or other internet service that: offers or arranges for reserving on-premises service for a customer at a food service establishment; and that is owned and operated by a person other than the person who owns the food service establishment. A third-party restaurant reservation service shall not include any reservation distribution channels that are authorized to distribute reservations by way of a contractual relationship with either the applicable food service establishment or a contractual designee of the food service establishment who obtained reservation distribution rights directly from the food service establishment.

b. A third-party restaurant reservation service shall not advertise, list, promote, or sell reservations for a food service establishment through the website, mobile application, or other platform of the third-party restaurant reservation service without a written agreement between the third-party restaurant reservation service and the food service establishment to include reservations at the food service establishment on the website, mobile application, or other platform of the third-party restaurant reservation service.

c. (1) Any person who violates, or causes another person to violate, a provision of this act, shall be subject to a civil penalty that shall not exceed $500 for each violation, to be collected in a civil action by a summary proceeding under the “Penalty Enforcement Law of 1999,” P.L.1999, c.274 (C.2A:58-10 et seq.). A violation by a person under this act shall accrue on a daily basis for each day and for each food service establishment with respect to which a violation of this act was committed. The Superior Court shall have jurisdiction of proceedings for the enforcement of the penalty provided by this section.

(2) Any person charged fees by a third-party restaurant reservation service that with respect to a reservation advertised, listed, promoted, or sold in violation of this act, or food service establishment which a third-party restaurant reservation service listed, advertised, promoted, or sold a reservation in violation of this act, may bring a civil action in the Superior Court for:

(a) injunctive relief to restrain or enjoin any activity in violation of this act;

(b) in the case of a person, actual damages not to exceed the total fees collected by the third-party restaurant reservation service in violation of this act or, in the case of a food service establishment, actual damages as a result of reservations made by the third-party reservation service that remained unfilled;

(d) any other remedy as the court may deem appropriate.

(3) Any action alleging a violation of this act shall be brought within one year after the alleged violation of this act occurs.

2. This act shall take effect immediately.