Many restaurants in Miami are adding a 3% credit card processing fee to the bill without notifying customers in advance. Starting July 1, they will be required to notify diners on the menu or at the register.
If you’ve eaten out in Miami lately, you’ve likely seen an automatic 20% service charge added to your bill. For many diners, the added fee can be an unwelcome surprise, especially if it isn’t disclosed until the check arrives.
That’s the kind of confusion Florida’s new restaurant fee transparency law is intended to prevent.
Known as the “Operations Charge” law, which took effect on July 1, the new rule means any food service establishment that imposes mandatory charges — including service charges, automatic gratuities, credit card surcharges and delivery fees — is required to disclose them before customers place their orders.
And restaurants aren’t allowed to hide the information. The percentage amount and its purpose must appear in type no smaller than the print used to describe the food. Bills and receipts must also separately identify operations charges, gratuities and sales tax.
Andrew Zelman, a partner at the law office of Berger Singerman in Fort Lauderdale, told the Editorial Board that the new law, “focuses towards disclosure and transparency to customers, eliminating any confusion, so that customers understand at the time they order and once they get the bill what’s included in the check.”
That’s a win for consumers.
The law doesn’t tell restaurants how much they can charge or whether they impose a service charge. It only requires one thing: restaurants to disclose those charges to the customer before they order. Restaurants can keep control over their pricing, while diners get the information upfront and can make an informed choice.
That kind of transparency matters, because diners often assume a 20% service charge is the server’s tip, but that may not be the case. As Zelman explained, service charges go to the restaurant, which decides how the money is distributed. Some or all of it can go to its employees as a tip — or it could be used to cover operating costs. Without clear disclosure, customers could believe they have paid a tip and unintentionally shortchange a server — or tip them twice.
To address that issue, the new law also requires restaurants to explain the charge’s purpose, giving customers the ability to decide whether they want to leave an additional tip. As Zelman said, “I think for consumers it is a good thing… in areas where you have a lot of tourists, and you have a lot of people who, particularly in South Florida, where you have people who are not used to an operations charge or service charge being automatically applied to every bill. I think the more disclosure you have, the better.”
Mandatory charges shouldn’t be buried in fine print or quietly applied to checks. Consumers deserve to know what their meal will cost at the beginning of the meal, and restaurants have the right to cover their costs. Disclosing the charges ahead of time strengthens consumer confidence.
Florida’s new law helps diners make informed decisions, reduces confusion over service charges and tips and builds trust between restaurants and their customers. In the long run, transparency in pricing isn’t just good for consumers — it’s good business.
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Editorials are opinion pieces that reflect the views of the Miami Herald Editorial Board, a group of opinion journalists that operates separately from the Miami Herald newsroom. Miami Herald Editorial Board members are: opinion editor Amy Driscoll and editorial writers Isadora Rangel and Mary Anna Mancuso. Read more by clicking the arrow in the upper right.
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