California Assembly approves bill cracking down on restaurant reservation black market
The California State Assembly passed a new bill that lawmakers hope can rein in a black market in restaurant reservations.
Assembly Bill 1640, the "California Restaurant Reservation Anti-Piracy Act" by Assemblymember Catherine Stefani (D-San Francisco) was approved on Tuesday. The bill prohibits the unauthorized sale or transfer of restaurant reservations for profit without the restaurant's consent.
Supporters say third-party resellers have used bots and other tactics in recent years to secure hard-to-get reservations at popular restaurants, then resell them online at much higher prices, often without the restaurant's knowledge.
Sponsored by the California Restaurant Association, the bill is intended to protect diners from deceptive markups and give restaurants, which already operate on thin margins, new tools to fight fake bookings, no-shows, and lost revenue.
AB 1640 builds on another bill, AB 1245, first introduced by Stefani last year, which sought to address the rise of reservation scalping in California.
"No one should have to pay a scalper for a dinner reservation that was meant to be free," Stefani said.
The newly updated bill will continue that work while adding a more specific regulation framework, including authorizing the Attorney General to bring enforcement actions against reservation resellers, with penalties of up to $1,000 for each illegal booking.
Restaurant reservation apps like OpenTable and Resy were among backers of the bill.
"OpenTable is proud to support this bill to help safeguard California restaurants from the harmful impacts of reservation fraud," said Debby Soo, CEO of OpenTable.
"This bill represents an important step toward preserving the integrity of the reservation process and creating a more reliable experience for both restaurants and diners," said Pablo Rivero, CEO of Resy and Head of American Express Global Dining.
The next stop for AB 1640 is the California State Senate for committee hearings.
