If you were thinking to drive for Uber and Lyft in NYC, there is some bad news for you. According to a report from Politico, both companies have stopped hiring new drivers in New York City because of a newly-passed law. The new law aims to clamp down on an already oversaturated rideshare market. As of April 1st, Uber stopped accepting new driver application, and Lyft followed the same direction by no longer accepting applications starting April 19th.
On its website, Uber said that the hiring freeze is due to new regulations by the Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC), which is the governing body that regulates rideshare and taxi industry in New York City. TLC previously passed new regulations in December 2018, stating that rideshare companies in NYC are now subject to penalization if they run more cars on the streets than current demand allows.
Due to the new rules, Uber and Lyft drivers are now required to pay at least $17.22 per hour to drivers, after expenses. If both companies have too many drivers on the road and not enough passengers, this can result in less income for all drivers overall. Both companies did say that this hiring freeze won’t be permanent in NYC and they plan to start hiring again when driver count drops below demand.
