Lyft and Uber, two of the major ride-hailing service have stopped accepting new drives in New York City.
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Lyft stopped the hiring process on April 19. Uber stopped its application process for new drivers on April 1, 2019. Uber mentioned on its website that they have stopped accepting the applications for new drivers. They explained citing the new TLC (Taxi and Limousine Commission) regulations.
Taxi and Limousine Commission is the governing body that regulates the rideshare and taxi industry in New York City.
Uber and Lyft Hiring Freeze
Uber and Lyft reached this decision after the new wage floor implementation for ride-hailing drivers. The Taxi and Limousine Commission passed new regulations in 2018. It penalizes ride-hailing service like Uber and Lyft for running more cars on the roads than the demand.
Both the services sued New York City for these new regulations.
The new regulations force Uber and Lyft to pay at least $17.22 an hour excluding the expenses. Less demand will force them to earn far less than the minimum wage.
Politico pointed out business practices. He stated that the higher a company utilization rate, the lesser it has to pay to its driver.
The hiring freeze suggests that they are unable to pay the drivers the new minimum wage. Reason for the same was stated that there is no demand to meet this pay.
New Rules are boon for the current drivers
According to a presentation by the city representatives, drivers of these ride-hailing service have earned $56 million more than they typically make after these new rules have come into effect.
However, the hiring freeze is not permanent. Both services plan to start hiring new drivers after their drivers’ pool dips low.
