The Federal Trade Commission is taking direct aim at deceptive pricing practices in the online grocery delivery industry, launching a formal public comment period to determine whether a new nationwide rule is necessary to protect consumers from hidden and misleading fees. The agency published an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) in the Federal Register. As a result, it invited consumers, businesses, and industry stakeholders to submit comments, data, and evidence. These contributions will help shape regulations targeting online grocery delivery fees that obscure the true cost of purchases.
FTC Calls Out Deceptive Online Grocery Delivery Fees
“Online grocery fees that are unclear, inconsistently disclosed, or revealed only at the last moment before consumers make a purchase distort competition and harm consumers,” said Christopher Mufarrige, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection.
Mufarrige added that the agency’s enforcement record shows consumers continue to face a range of fees that block informed price comparisons. “The Trump-Vance FTC is committed to addressing unlawful grocery delivery pricing that obscures the true cost of groceries,” he said.
The push comes on the heels of two major enforcement actions that exposed widespread pricing abuses across leading delivery platforms.
Major Settlements Signal a Pattern of Abuse
In December 2025, the FTC announced a $60 million settlement with Instacart after the company falsely advertised “free delivery” on customers’ first three orders while quietly charging service fees that only appeared at checkout — well after consumers had committed to their purchases.
Just a year earlier, in December 2024, the agency secured a $25 million settlement with GrubHub over similar allegations that the platform misled consumers about the actual cost of delivery.
Together, these cases reveal that hidden and misleading charges are not isolated incidents but a persistent industry problem — one that enforcement actions alone have so far failed to solve.
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Patchwork State Laws Leave Consumers Exposed
Several states have already passed legislation requiring food and grocery delivery platforms to more clearly disclose fees and include mandatory charges in advertised prices. However, those laws vary widely and do not apply uniformly across all platforms or state lines.
That inconsistency creates gaps in consumer protection and gives some platforms room to continue operating with minimal transparency. The FTC’s proposed rule would close those gaps by establishing a single, enforceable national standard.
A federal rule would also give the agency stronger tools. Unlike individual enforcement actions, a formal rule would allow the FTC to pursue civil penalties against violators and recover money more efficiently for harmed consumers.
Nine Key Questions the FTC Wants Answered
The ANPRM lays out nine specific areas where the FTC wants public input on whether online food delivery platforms currently meet basic transparency standards:
- Total price disclosure: Do platforms clearly show the full cost of an order upfront?
- Fee transparency: Do platforms explain the nature, purpose, and recipient of each charge?
- Variable fees: Do platforms disclose how costs vary by item type, quantity, or delivery location?
- Mandatory vs. optional charges: Do platforms distinguish between required and optional fees?
- Price differentials: Do platforms reveal when delivery prices differ from in-store prices?
- Personalized pricing: Do platforms disclose when individual consumers receive different prices from other users?
- Promotions and discounts: Do platforms clearly state restrictions or conditions tied to advertised deals?
- Unauthorized charges: Do platforms bill consumers for items or services they never agreed to purchase?
- Consent for billing: Do platforms obtain express, informed consent before charging consumers?
What Comes Next
Once the ANPRM appears in the Federal Register, consumers and industry participants will have 30 days to submit comments electronically. Written submissions are also accepted by following the instructions included in the Federal Register’s supplementary information section.
The FTC’s move signals a broader shift toward holding digital marketplaces accountable for pricing transparency — a pressure point that has grown as online grocery delivery fees have quietly inflated household food costs for millions of Americans.
For an industry that has long relied on complex fee structures buried in checkout flows, federal regulation could force a fundamental rethink of how platforms communicate cost to consumers.