NYC mayor says fight against delivery-app tip abuse is just beginning

At a press briefing, Mayor Zohran Mamdani pointed to a recent municipal study that quantified a $104 million rise in tips for delivery personnel since the city mandated changes to Uber Eats and DoorDash’s app designs. The report noted that hidden tip buttons and default tip settings below 10 percent had previously cut tips by 79 percent. Since the policy shift in late January, tips have roughly doubled, putting the average annual increase at $2,287 per driver among the 70,000 workers in New York City.

The mayor also referenced a January settlement that compelled the platforms to pay more than $5 million, some of which was distributed to couriers. In June, the city boosted the budget of the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection by over $4 million to expand staffing and enforcement capacity. Mamdani declared that accepting corporate abuse is over and signaled that additional victories for gig workers are forthcoming. DoorDash and Uber Eats have not responded to requests for comment.