S 1193 New Jersey Senate · 2026-2027 Regular Session

Bans unauthorized restaurant reservation arrangement by third-party reservation service.*

This bill prohibits third-party reservation platforms (like OpenTable or Yelp) from listing, advertising, or selling restaurant reservations without a written agreement with the restaurant. It directly affects third-party services and food service establishments (including restaurants, pushcarts, and stands serving food to consumers). The key provision requires written authorization from the restaurant before a third-party platform can offer its reservations, with violations subject to daily civil penalties up to $1,000 per restaurant per day. The bill mirrors similar laws in New York and Illinois, aiming to prevent unauthorized reservation arrangements. It is currently pending in the New Jersey Senate Commerce Committee.

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Senate Passage

Mar 2026

General Assembly Passage

Governor

Introduced Jan 13, 2026 Last action Mar 23, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced → Senate Committee Substitute · 5 edits

MODERATE

The Senate Committee Substitute for S1193 (now combined with S1197) makes several substantive changes: it reduces the civil penalty from $1,000 to $500 per violation, adds a new private right of action allowing affected consumers and restaurants to sue for damages, injunctive relief, and attorney's fees, sets a one-year statute of limitations for such actions, and changes the effective date from a 90-day delay to immediate upon enactment.

ENFORCEMENT

Civil penalty per violation reduced from $1,000 to $500

New private right of action (Section 1(c)(2)) allowing any person charged fees by a violating reservation service, or any food service establishment affected by unauthorized reservations, to bring a civil action in Superior Court for injunctive relief, actual damages (capped at total fees collected for individuals; based on unfilled reservations for establishments), attorney's fees and costs, and any other remedy the court deems appropriate

TIMELINE

One-year statute of limitations added: any action alleging a violation must be brought within one year after the alleged violation occurs

Effective date changed from 90 days after enactment to immediate upon enactment

SCOPE

Bill now combines with S1197 as a companion bill (S1193 and S1197), and Senator Polistina is added as a co-sponsor

Floor votes

How they voted

This bill passed the Senate by voice vote (no roll call recorded).

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Mar 23, 2026

Upper · Passed

Passed by the Senate (38-0)

upper

Jan 13, 2026

Introduced

Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Commerce Committee

upper

2 primary · 2 co-sponsors