Uber and Lyft drivers get inflation pay bump

The city’s Uber and Lyft drivers are getting a pay bump.

The Taxi and Limousine Commission announced its annual inflation adjustment Wednesday for city rideshare drivers — a 3.49% hike, nearly a dollar per 30-minute trip.

“The adjustment can mean the difference between falling behind on rent or food due to rising costs and keeping up with the economic times,” TLC Commissioner David Do said in a statement.

The annual adjustment is mandated by the city’s minimum-pay rule, which sets a minimum per-trip payment to drivers working for app-based rideshare companies.

TLC estimates there are roughly 84,000 drivers affected by the pay bump.

Wednesday’s announcement comes as a coalition of Uber and Lyft drivers boycotted airports across the country on Valentine’s Day, a banner holiday for air travel, demanding better pay from the rideshare behemoths.

While New York City regulates the rideshare industry, requiring drivers and cars to be registered with the TLC and apps to pay drivers according to the minimum-pay rule, the industry is largely unregulated elsewhere.

Newark’s Liberty International Airport — which, being in New Jersey, can be served by non-TLC regulated rideshare drivers — was among the airports boycotted Wednesday.

Moira Muntz, a spokeswoman for the Independent Drivers Guild, one of the labor organizations involved in the Valentine’s Day Strike, said local drivers had chosen to strike at Newark because New Jersey drivers did not have pay protections similar to their New York City cohorts.