New York City Comptroller Brad Lander and the New York Taxi Workers Alliance (NYTWA) jointly held a press conference on the 17th to demand that ride-hailing platforms Uber and Lyft terminate their Lockout app feature, which restricts drivers’ working hours.
Uber had previously stated to the media that their practice of locking out New York City drivers from the app during slow traffic periods was done to counter the minimum wage requirements set by the Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) of the city. According to regulations, companies like Uber and Lyft are required to pay drivers for waiting time between passenger pickups.
During the press conference on Thursday, Lander pointed out that this type of lockout leading to downtime is a strategy by Uber and Lyft to avoid compliance with New York City’s driver minimum wage laws. In the past year, instances of arbitrary lockouts have increased, with Uber and Lyft locking drivers out of the app after completing trips or within a few hours, disrupting a driver’s normal workday and preventing them from earning their full compensation, making it difficult for them to pay rent, bills, and make a living. The taxi workers’ alliance also recognized that this is a form of deceit against drivers, estimating that drivers could be “cheated out of over $1 billion annually” in the future.
Bhairavi Desai, chairperson of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, stated, “Since this summer, Uber and Lyft have put drivers in a state of anxiety and insecurity, on the brink of eviction, debt, and despair. We will not tolerate this behavior.” Several drivers present at the meeting took out their phones to demonstrate the messages displayed by the ride-hailing apps when they were blocked.
Lander also mentioned that his office had released a list of non-compliant employers last month, with 11 companies listed, including Uber and Lyft.
Lander and the New York Taxi Workers Alliance pledged to work together to close legal loopholes through amending taxi and TLC regulations and legislation in the city council. A few weeks ago, Lander sent a letter to the TLC requesting original trip data, income information, compliance status, and communications between the New York City government and ride-hailing app companies regarding limited-hour logins to formulate relevant policies.
Desai stated that closing legal loopholes is not enough and urged the TLC to take action, saying, “We have filed a rule-making petition under the City Charter, and the TLC must respond by November 4th. We urge them to discard manipulated data during lockouts to calculate drivers’ actual utilization rates and pay wages accordingly.” Zubin Soleimany, the alliance’s lawyer, added, “It’s like your boss taking away your time card and kicking you out while you are still working. TLC cannot rely on this distorted data to set future wage standards for drivers.”
Council Member Shahana Hanif attended the press conference and expressed dissatisfaction with the practices of ride-hailing platforms, urging accountability.