Doordash jacks up fees in Seattle due to new regulations
- DoorDash is increasing service fees in Seattle due to new city regulations.
- The city mandates higher pay for delivery drivers and intensive review processes.
- The new fees come as a severe burden for customers, who are already facing high delivery costs.
In Seattle, USA, DoorDash has declared a hike in service fees for food deliveries as a direct response to new city regulations. These changes, which will come into effect on July 31, 2025, address app-based worker pay and establish additional requirements for reviewing driver account deactivations. This decision is a significant hardship for local customers, who already face some of the highest food delivery costs in the country. Seattle's stringent regulations require delivery services to compensate their workers nearly $30 per hour before mileage and tips, far surpassing the city's minimum wage. Additionally, the newly imposed laws demand extensive reviews of driver deactivations, which the company claims will demand heightened time and resources. DoorDash has previously warned the Seattle City Council about the financial burden these rules place on their operations, insisting that it has led to an uptick in service fees. The recent announcement marks not the first instance of DoorDash increasing delivery prices as they have done so in the past. Just a year ago, following a Seattle City Council decision to ensure delivery workers receive a minimum wage, the company implemented a flat service fee of $5 for all orders. This prior regulation has evidently contributed to a decrease in Dashers’ earnings, who reported receiving half the number of daily delivery offers within a year after the pay law's instatement, coupled with longer waiting times for orders. As a direct consequence, DoorDash reported a toll on its operations: its drivers have recorded a staggering 20% drop in average earnings based on the time spent on the app between the end of 2023 and the end of 2024, a trend that has carried into 2025. The financial fallout is not limited to drivers; local Seattle businesses have also felt the impact, with revenues dropping by 2% as opposed to business performance in cities with lower service fees, such as Denver and Portland where the increase was around 10%. DoorDash now faces ongoing operational losses in Seattle, despite generating significant revenue nationally.