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🔓 NYC TLC Preparing New Rules To End Uber & Lyft Driver Lockouts (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg reports the TLC is working to create new driver pay rules to prevent app driver "lockouts". Rules will be introduced in "the next couple of months"
Bloomberg reports the TLC is set to propose new rules in “the next couple of months” to address Uber & Lyft driver “lockouts” in NYC
TLC has also been in talks with the rideshare companies to see if it can end lockouts without implementing a rule change
TLC Chair David Do says Uber & Lyft created a “manufactured crisis”
In a Bloomberg interview, NYC Taxi & Limousine Commission (TLC) Chair David Do says the TLC is working on new minimum pay rules that would address the inability of NYC Uber and Lyft drivers to access (“lockouts”) the apps 24 / 7 (assuming a driver hasn’t been transporting a passenger for more than 10 hours in a 24-hour period and more than 60 hours in a week).
Although Do doesn’t reveal any specific details about the new rules that should be coming in “the next couple of months”, he states:
“We want to say that the regulator is here, that we are on the side of drivers and that we will impose new rules and new restrictions on the high-volume companies if we need to ensure that they’re playing fair.”
- NYC TLC Chair David Do
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“Manufactured Crisis”
Bloomberg quotes Do as saying that the rideshare companies created a “manufactured crisis” and could have prevented lockouts by “giving driver more trips or not dispatching new workers” 🤔 An Uber spokesperson told Bloomberg the company limited new driver sign-ups (“waitlist”) last year and only onboarded new drivers that had wheelchair accessible (WAV) and electric vehicles (EV) to comply with the City’s Green Rides Initiative. Uber also said it completely stopped signing up new NYC TLC drivers in January.
Oversaturation
The Bloomberg article closes with a quote from New York Taxi Workers Alliance (NYWTA) leader Bhairavi Desai.
“There is no doubt this is a crisis brought on by over-saturation…Both the TLC and the companies need to answer for the over-saturation and not pin it on the drivers”
- Bhairavi Desai, President of NYTWA
Ms. Desai is most likely referring to the 12,000+ new FHV Licenses (TLC Plates) the regulator issued in 2023. If you want to hear Ms. Desai’s full thoughts on NYC app driver lockouts and the driver advocacy group’s proposed solutions, check out our recent interview with the influential labor leader. NYTWA is planning to strike this Wednesday, July 17th at 1pm, an action that is focused on ending driver lockouts.
This is concerning because Chairman Do and the TLC absolutely refuse to see THEIR part in this “manufactured crisis” and had it not been for the NYTWA lawsuit against the TLC, the crisis would have deepened. This is an emergency that has been going on for months and now they need another two months to talk about it?!? And why does the TLC continue to blame rideshare companies? The TLC has the power to IMMEDIATELY call a meeting and cancel utility rates. Problem solved right there as far as Uber and Lyft lockouts are concerned. After that, they can take the enormous amounts of data available to them on a daily basis and make the necessary adjustments (either up or down or do nothing) to the number of TLC driver and vehicle licenses that are in the market so that the riding public can get rides and drivers are paid fairly. The TLC does NOT need Uber or Lyft for that. The TLC does not need to negotiate with the rideshare companies.
Why does the this bureaucracy that has no issue bullying drivers with non-negotiable fines, suspensions, expulsions cower to rideshare companies?