Drivers call for probe of Lyft deductions

NEW YORK — A New York labor organization is calling for an investigation of Lyft and other ride-hailing services for what the organization says is cheating drivers on their fares.

The Independent Drivers Guild, which formed last year as an affiliate of an existing labor union, said last week that Lyft has been engaged in “large-scale deception” by improperly deducting more than 11 percent from drivers’ fares on interstate trips. In effect, the ride-hailing company is stealing some of the drivers’ wages by collecting taxes and surcharges on trips out of state that should apply only to in-state trips, and then disguising those charges as administrative fees, the labor group says.

New York State Assembly member Robert Rodriguez backed the labor group’s request for a full investigation in a letter addressed to the state’s attorney general and the Department of Taxation and Finance.

Drivers have also accused Uber, Juno and other ridehailing services of being less than upfront in their dealings with their drivers.

“There is no merit to this allegation,” Lyft spokesman Adrian Durbin said. “Our driver agreement lays out what commissions and fees apply to driving on the Lyft platform, and we’ve consistently abided by the agreement since entering the New York market in 2014.”

Ride-hailing drivers in New York have discovered that Lyft appears to be deducting a state sales tax on out-ofstate trips that should be applied only to rides that begin and end in New York, the drivers guild says. The ridehailing service also appears to be improperly collecting a surcharge for the Black Car Fund that shouldn’t apply to out-of-state trips.

— The Washington Post