DoorDash, Uber Eats erased $550M in delivery worker tips in NYC, Mamdani administration alleges

DoorDash and Uber Eats prevented delivery workers from earning over $550 million in tips by requiring customers to leave gratuities after checkout, the Mamdani administration alleged Tuesday.The tipping policy – which the food-delivery apps launched in December 2023 as New York City began hiking minimum pay for that workforce – has resulted in an estimated $5,800 annual loss in tips per worker, New York City’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection said in a new report.In the week after the new tipping system was rolled out, the average tip for Uber Eats and DoorDash drivers plummeted from $3.66 per delivery to 93 cents, according to the DCWP.It has since dropped to 76 cents, the department found.It said drivers for rival apps like GrubHub, which allow customers to give tips before checkout, earn an average gratuity of $2.17.DCWP Commissioner Samuel Levine said Tuesday’s report “blows the whistle on a massive scheme by Uber and DoorDash to drive down worker pay.”  John Horton, DoorDash’s head of North America public policy, said the report’s claims “are flat out wrong.” Uber Eats did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.The apps – two of the world’s largest food-delivery companies – introduced the after-checkout system the same day New York City mandated annual inflation-adjusted pay hikes for app-based delivery workers.

It currently stands at $21.44 an hour.Since the start of December 2023, shares in DoorDash and Uber have risen about 125% and 50%, respectively.The companies are currently in a legal battle with the Big Apple over new laws set to take effect Jan.26 that require the apps to offer customers the chance to leave tips at checkout and set the default option to at least 10% of an order’s cost.Uber Eats and DoorDash are asking the Southern District of New York to block the legislation, accusing the city of violating their free speech rights by forcing them to “speak a government-mandated message...