07-04-2025
Illinois House passes bill to ban unauthorized restaurant reservations
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WTVO) — A bill that would ban 'black market' restaurant reservations in Illinois has passed out of the House.
HB2456, or the Restaurant Reservation Anti-Piracy Act, would prevent third party services from listing, advertising, promoting, or selling restaurant reservations without a written agreement.
'At a time when local restaurants are operating with extremely tight margins and working to recover from the impacts of COVID-19, they shouldn't have to deal with third-party services snatching up their reservations and selling them at a premium, which leads to no-shows and confusion that only hurts their bottom lines,' said State Representative Margaret Croke, who introduced the bill.
Services like OpenTable and Resy have agreements with restaurants for reservations, but services like Appointment Trader operate without the consent of local businesses, relying on bots to make reservations that are then sold to consumers at a premium.
New York passed legislation in 2024 to regulate the platforms; California, Florida, and Nevada are considering similar measures.
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