Uber has come out and said that it accidentally underpaid drivers in New York City over the past two and half years, the Wall Street Journal reports. On..
Uber has come out and said that it accidentally underpaid drivers in New York City over the past two and half years, the Wall Street Journal reports. On Friday, Uber announced a nationwide change to how drivers see their earnings. While going through that process, the company realized it had been underpaying drivers in New York, TechCrunch has learned.
Here’s what happened. Uber was supposed to take a 25% cut from driver fares, after taxes and fees were taken into account, according to the terms of Uber’s 2014 driver agreement. But in New York, Uber accidentally calculated a higher commission that took into account the full fare, before taking into account taxes and other fees. As of today, New York is the only market in which Uber discovered the accounting mistake.
Uber now says it is fully prepared to refund that money to drivers in New York, plus interest. That will result in tens of millions of dollars for the company.
“We are committed to paying every driver every penny they are owed – plus interest – as quickly as possible, ” Uber Regional General Manager of U. S. and Canada Rachel Holt said in a statement. “We are working hard to regain driver trust, and that means being transparent, sticking to our word, and making the Uber experience better from end to end.”
For Uber drivers in New York who have completed a trip in the last ninety days, they will receive an email that tells them the amount Uber owes them. Money will be deposited into their bank accounts within seven days.
For those who have not taken a trip in the last ninety days, Uber will send them an email with how much they are owed, and a form to fill out to confirm their bank account information is correct.
