New York votes: Uber and Lyft services to be capped

New York becomes the first major city in the United States to pass the cap on cab car licenses and set minimum pay conditions for drivers.

Popular application-based services like Lyft and Uber have both spoken out against it as they will be impacted most by the bill.

With the count of application-based cars soaring high in the recent years, anti-congestion campaigners and the yellow cab drivers have been pushing for the regulation.

Almost 80000 application-based cabs now operate in New York, compared to the 13500 yellow taxis.

Cab drivers this week had rallied in favor of the bill, holding signs with faces and names of the six taxi drivers who had committed suicide since December. The demonstration was carried just outside the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission headquarters.

Union groups and campaigns had directly linked the suicides committed by the drives on the financial pressures caused by the growing app-based cab car services.

A year-long ban on new cab vehicle licenses for a year has been approved on Wednesday. The bill passed excludes the cars which are wheelchair accessible.

The bill also gives the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission the authority to regulate the minimum fare rates, minimum pay for the drivers and creating a new book of guidelines for the application-based taxi companies.

The New York Mayor Bill de Blasio supported the bill and said that this legislation would help in stopping the influx of cars that causes congestion in the city.

However, the app-based cab services have criticized the legislation and said that it will cause inconvenience to the customers.

Uber’s biggest market in the United States is New York.

Over 17 million rides per month are completed by the application-based drivers in New York, revealed a study.

The study commissioned for the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission, had recommended a minimum hourly salary of $17.22/ hour for the drivers, but found out that almost 85% of the application-based drivers are currently net below that amount.

The vote is supported by the New York Taxi Workers Alliance who on their website described it is a victory for its union that has 18000 members.

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