The town’s Taxi and Limousine Fee voted June 25, 2025, to lift pay and limit app-based lockouts that had affected hundreds of drivers
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The NYC Taxi & Limousine Fee (TLC) on Wednesday voted unanimously to lift minimal pay requirements for drivers in “high-volume” for-hire companies, together with Uber and Lyft, by 5%.
The TLC estimates that below the revised system, minimal pay for the standard 30-minute, 7.5-mile journey will enhance to $29.07 — about 5% greater than 2024 ranges and 26% greater than when the town’s driver pay method was first adopted in 2019.
At a June 25 assembly, the TLC additionally adopted new laws aimed toward curbing the usage of app-based “lockouts” that forestall drivers from logging into the platforms mid-shift.
Underneath the brand new guidelines, set to enter impact on Aug. 1, corporations should give drivers a minimum of 72 hours’ discover earlier than proscribing entry and permit them to stay logged into the app for as much as 16 hours as soon as a shift begins, with restricted exceptions.
The transfer follows a yearlong marketing campaign led by the New York Taxi Staff Alliance (NYTWA), which argued that Uber and Lyft used lockouts to control utilization charges — a key metric utilized by the town to find out per-trip pay.
By proscribing driver entry, advocates stated, the businesses have been capable of make it seem that drivers have been spending the next share of their time on passenger journeys, which allowed the platforms to suppress wages.
“The new Taxi & Limousine Commission rules are a victory for Uber and Lyft driver members of NYTWA to end lockouts and protect driver incomes,” NYTWA Govt Director Bhairavi Desai stated following the vote. “Lockouts are an attack on driver pay and driver dignity.”
The union stated drivers reported revenue losses of as much as 25% attributable to lockouts and accused the businesses of utilizing the tactic to artificially inflate utilization charges in 2024 to affect the town’s 2025 pay commonplace. The group organized a sequence of protests and coverage actions all through the final yr.
TLC Chair David Do described the adjustments Wednesday as a step towards financial equity, highlighting the “harmful and unnecessary lockouts” that left drivers unable to earn revenue mid-shift. “These proposed rules not only go a long way towards closing this loophole and providing further lockout protections for drivers, but they also provide a sensible pay increase based on inflation and increased expenses,” Do stated.
Whereas driver pay advocates welcomed the modest financial bump, NYTWA emphasised that the largest win was regulatory: the clear disincentive in opposition to lockouts.
“The adjustment in pay is nominal, but the real victory is in how the TLC’s new rules disincentivize lockouts,” the alliance stated. “We’ve proven that when workers come together, even billionaire corporations like Uber and Lyft can be held accountable.”
Uber and Lyft pushed for decrease pay hike
The pay enhance accredited Wednesday is barely decrease than what economist Dr. James Parrott of the Heart for New York Metropolis Affairs proposed. The TLC enlisted Parrott to replace its expense mannequin.
His December 2024 report, based mostly on survey responses from hundreds of drivers and public car value knowledge, really helpful a 6.1% per-mile pay enhance to mirror rising driver bills, significantly for electrical automobiles and leases.
Uber and Lyft opposed key parts of the proposal throughout the public remark interval in February, questioning each the usage of survey knowledge and the assumptions round car depreciation. In response, TLC and Dr. Parrott performed a supplemental evaluation, adjusting for the residual worth of older automobiles utilizing trade-in knowledge from Kelley Blue E-book, which barely decreased the general expense issue.
Finally, the fee adopted the 5% increase, beneath Parrott’s preliminary advice, together with new restrictions on driver lockouts and a change to how utilization charges are utilized within the pay method.
The TLC stated that shifting ahead, moderately than routinely adjusting pay yearly, future fee will increase might be thought of via rulemaking, based mostly on “changing industry dynamics.”
“TLC believes that this approach is superior and offers greater transparency than making automatic changes on a predetermined schedule without full consideration of other factors affecting the industry including citywide mobility trends, economic changes, and changes in the companies’ business practices, such as the use of platform restrictions or driver registration waitlists,” the Fee acknowledged.
In a press release to New York News, a spokesperson for Lyft expressed aid that Dr. Parrott’s preliminary advice had been revised however recommended the brand new guidelines will backfire on the very staff they’re meant to assist.
“While these changes are a step in the right direction, we still have concerns that the underlying pay formula will still deprive drivers of earning opportunities, drive up prices for riders, and reduce ride availability, which isn’t good for anyone – especially the drivers who depend on steady demand to make a living,” the Lyft spokesperson stated.
Uber welcomed elements of the brand new rule, significantly the TLC’s choice to cease routinely adjusting driver pay based mostly on utilization charges every year.
Firm spokesperson Freddi Goldstein stated the shift marks the town’s first formal acknowledgment that point and distance-based utilization must be handled in another way.
Uber has lengthy criticized the pay method, arguing it created “perverse incentives” that pressured platforms to restrict driver entry to take care of excessive utilization metrics. The corporate stated the revised coverage corrects what it referred to as a flawed system that led to instability and frustration for drivers, although it didn’t instantly deal with new driver protections for app-based lockouts.
