NYC sets minimum wage for Uber and Lyft drivers

The wage floor will go
into effect in the middle of January.
Robert Galbraith/Reuters

• New York City is the first US city to adopt a minimum
  wage for drivers working for ride-hailing services like
  Uber
  and Lyft. 
• The city’s Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) said on
  Tuesday that it passed rules that will require “high volume”
  drivers of for-hire vehicles to receive a wage per trip that
  corresponds to $27.86 per hour, or $17.22 after
  expenses.
• The rules will go into effect in the middle of
  January.
• Representatives for Uber and Lyft told Business Insider
  that the companies disagreed with the wage floor, saying it
  would have a negative effect on prices and driver behavior,
  respectively.

New York City is the first US city to adopt a minimum wage for
drivers working for ride-hailing services like Uber and
Lyft. 

The city’s Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) said on Tuesday
that it passed rules that will require “high volume” drivers of
for-hire vehicles to receive a wage per trip that corresponds to
$27.86 per hour, or $17.22 after expenses. The rules will go into
effect in mid-January.

“New York City is the first city globally to recognize that the
tens of thousands of men and women who are responsible for
providing increasingly popular rides that begin with the touch of
a screen deserve to make a livable wage and protection against
companies from unilaterally reducing it,” TLC chair Meera Joshi
said in a statement.

According to the commission, the rules will result in the
equivalent of a $10,000 annual raise for 96% of New York City’s
Uber, Lyft, Juno, and
Via
drivers. A report commissioned by the TLC found that median
earnings for high-volume drivers of for-hire vehicles decreased
by over 10% between 2016 and 2017.

Read more:
The company that’s empowering ride-hailing drivers already has 20
million miles of data under its belt — and its launch in the US’
hottest market should have Uber and Lyft very worried

Representatives for Uber and Lyft told Business Insider that the
companies disagreed with the wage floor, saying it would have a
negative effect on prices and driver behavior, respectively.

“
The TLC’s implementation of the City
Council’s legislation to increase driver earnings will lead to
higher than necessary fare increases for riders while missing an
opportunity to deal with congestion in Manhattan’s central
business district,” an Uber representative said.

“The TLC’s proposed pay rules will undermine competition by
allowing certain companies to pay drivers lower wages, and
disincentives drivers from giving rides to and from areas outside
Manhattan. These rules would be a step backward for New Yorkers,
and we urge the TLC to reconsider them,” a Lyft representative
said.

A Via representative did not indicate that the company
opposed the wage floor. 

“As the industry leader in driver earnings in New York
City, we are looking forward to working with the TLC on
implementing this rule,” the representative said in a
statement.

Juno did not immediately respond to Business Insider’s request
for comment.

The New York City Council in August
voted in favor of establishing a minimum wage for
ride-hailing drivers and preventing ride-hailing services from
hiring new drivers for a year. The decision came after a
report from transportation analyst Bruce Shaller that said
ride-hailing services increased traffic congestion.

In July, the New York Unemployment Insurance Appeal Board

issued a ruling that requires Uber to provide unemployment
benefits for its drivers.