There's an ad with Sharon and Kim for Uber Eats - but it's not the Kim you may expect

The prime minister has encouraged Kiwis to eat local and use restaurants that do their own deliveries under alert level 3.

Restaurants are calling on the Government to step in, as Uber Eats charges a commission about 30 to 35 per cent for most purchases, considerably more than many other delivery services.

Because in-store purchases would still not be allowed under Level 3, Restaurant Association NZ said businesses would be overly reliant on third-party delivery apps, and would be working to thin margins.

SUPPLIED Uber Eats charges a 35 per cent commission, much higher than similar services.

"Uber Eats is essentially taking the shirt off the industry's back," the association's chief executive, Marisa Bidois, said. "These are the hardest three months this industry has faced in its history, and we are likely going to be looking at a one-in-five closure rate."

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She has written to Finance Minister Grant Robertson and other ministers asking for a cap to be put on the amount of commission an app can charge.

But in her daily coronavirus briefing on Wednesday, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said it was up to consumers to choose restaurants that did not use Uber Eats.

Asked whether the Government would consider putting a cap on how much Uber Eats can charge restaurants, Ardern said:

"I would just encourage consumers, all New Zealanders who may be looking forward next week to accessing take away food ... to look at your favourite local eatery – and I do encourage you to support local businesses – and just look at whether or not they offer delivery directly themselves."

An Uber spokesperson failed to respond to specific queries from Stuff based on the prime minister's remarks.

They said: "Given the uncertainty and potentially lengthy nature of the current pandemic, our support package is focused on measures that are sustainable for us as a business, and also help restaurant partners to continue to attract customers and increase order volumes."

Ardern said she understood the high levels of commission had "been Uber's business model and continues to be their model."

Jacinda Ardern urges New Zealanders to eat restaurants from places doing their own delivery next week.

By comparison, leading local competitor Delivereasy charges a 20 per cent commission.

Delivereasy director Nick Foster said their commission was "a lot fairer" than Uber Eats.

As the largest local Uber Eats alternative, Delivereasy is available in 12 cities, but notably not in Auckland or Christchurch.

Foster said they planned to launch in both cities in the next three weeks, and would have a unilateral free delivery promotion running for new customers there.

​In an earlier statement to Stuff, the Uber spokesperson said the company had no intention of changing their commissions.

"We understand that this is an incredibly difficult time for the restaurant industry and particularly small business owners. Our goal at this time is to support restaurants to stay open for business for as long as they can and to continue to capture the demand from customers through pick-up and delivery," it said.

The company had issued a support package, which included $5 million in funding for businesses across Australia and New Zealand to run promotions, and no activation fee for new businesses signing up until early May.

Menulog, which processes online orders but requires restaurants to arrange their own delivery, announced this week it was dropping its commission from 14 to 7 per cent until June.

"Menulog are showing a great example. It's these kind of gestures that help built the industry," she said.

While restaurants have the option of using other, cheaper services, Bidois said it was important to push Uber Eats, as it was the market leader.

The association has been pushing Uber Eats to drop its commission charges ever since it launched in New Zealand, but said the Covid-19 situation had changed things, because restaurants were now entirely reliant on delivery, rather than it being an add-on to in-store sales.

Uber Eats and other delivery platforms can not operate at Covid-19 Alert Level 4, but will return at Level 3 with contactless delivery.