Class action alleges DoorDash's $0 delivery fee promise hides mandatory charges at checkout

Two California residents, Veronika Slawitschka and Rose Navarro-Bahl, filed a class action lawsuit against DoorDash Inc. on April 15, 2026, in the Superior Court of California for the County of San Francisco. The lawsuit alleges the food delivery company charges DashPass subscribers mandatory fees on orders it advertises as free of delivery costs.

The plaintiffs claim DoorDash promotes its DashPass subscription with a promise of $0 delivery fees on eligible orders then adds a mandatory service fee at checkout. The lawsuit calls this drip pricing, a practice in which a company advertises a low or partial price and reveals additional required charges when a consumer is about to finalize a purchase.

DashPass pricing and the hidden charge

DashPass costs $9.99 per month or $96 per year with a student rate of $4.99 per month or $48 per year. The subscription's core selling point is $0 delivery fees on eligible orders, which DoorDash uses prominently in its advertising, the complaint alleges.

Both plaintiffs allege they encountered hidden charges despite holding active DashPass subscriptions. Slawitschka says she placed a food delivery order on March 26, 2026, and paid a mandatory $1.99 service fee, the complaint states. Navarro-Bahl claims she ordered food through the platform on Oct. 26, 2024, and paid the same $1.99 charge. In both cases, the fee reportedly appeared only at checkout after the plaintiffs selected their meals.

The complaint argues the distinction between a "delivery fee" and a "service fee" is semantic. DoorDash's only consumer-facing function is delivering food and groceries, the lawsuit contends, which means any mandatory fee on a delivery order is a delivery fee regardless of what the company labels it.

$25 million federal settlement over similar fees

The plaintiff's counsel cites a 2024 federal enforcement action against one of DoorDash's main competitors. In December 2024, the Federal Trade Commission and the Illinois attorney general reached a $25 million settlement with Grubhub over similar claims. The FTC alleged Grubhub deceived customers by advertising low or zero fees and adding "service" and "small order" fees at checkout.

The class action lawsuit cites internal Grubhub documents from that investigation showing the company's service fee was directly tied to delivery and functioned as another form of delivery fee. The attorneys argue DoorDash follows the same pattern: advertising $0 delivery while collecting delivery charges under a different label.

The legal claims

California's Honest Pricing Law bars businesses from advertising prices that exclude mandatory fees. A follow-up law exempted restaurants and grocery stores from that requirement but specifically excluded third-party delivery platforms like DoorDash.

The lawsuit brings three causes of action against DoorDash:

  • California Unfair Competition Law, which covers unfair, fraudulent and unlawful business practices
  • California False Advertising Law, which bars untrue or misleading advertising
  • CLRA Honest Pricing Law, which prohibits advertising prices that exclude mandatory fees

The plaintiffs seek restitution of all fees collected through the alleged scheme, a public injunction requiring DoorDash to stop advertising free delivery and to bring its fee disclosures into compliance with California law, attorneys' fees and court costs.

What this means for DashPass subscribers

The lawsuit estimates the proposed class could include tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of California DashPass subscribers who paid mandatory fees on orders advertised as eligible for free delivery. The court has not certified a class, no judge has ruled on the merits and DoorDash has not filed a formal response. There is no settlement, no claims process and no payout at this time. The lawsuit remains pending in San Francisco Superior Court.