NYC Court Blocks Pay Raise for Uber and Lyft Drivers
upstart writes:
Uber sued the city's Taxi and Limousine Commission over the rate hike last month:
A court has blocked a rate hike that would have increased pay for New York City Uber and Lyft drivers. Uber sued the city's Taxi & Limousine Commission (TLC) in December, claiming it used a flawed methodology to determine the per-minute and per-mile rate increases. Manhattan state court Justice Arthur Engoron agreed. "It's just not enough to say there's inflation and 100 drivers said gas prices shot up," Engoron, a former taxi driver in his college days, said, according to Bloomberg.
In November, the TLC unanimously approved the city's first metered fare increases in a decade, including for ridesharing trips. Per-minute rates were slated to go up by 7.4 percent and per-mile rates by 24 percent. Under those planned hikes, a trip of 7.5 miles that took 30 minutes would have earned a ridesharing driver at least $27.15, an increase of more than $2.50 compared with current rates.
Uber argued that the rate increases would result in higher fares for customers while harming its reputation. A judge granted a temporary restraining order to pause the rate hikes a few days after Uber filed suit and before they came into effect on December 19th.
"Drivers do critical work and deserve to be paid fairly, but rates should be calculated in a way that is transparent, consistent and predictable," Uber spokesperson Josh Gold told Bloomberg. "Existing TLC rules continue to provide for an annual review tied to the rate of inflation, which will take place in March."
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