The Federal Transactions Committee has been reported to have begun investigating the last minute whether Uber and Lyft had illegally colluded to reduce the driver in New York.
On January 21, the FTC regulation authorities issued a demand for a civil survey that functions as a summoning form, and demanded that the two companies submit information on contracts with Big Apple officials regarding driver compensation. Bloomberg News reported on Thursday.
Khan, a progressive President Joe Biden, resigned as FTC Chair on January 21.
Uber and Lyft were told that they had to respond within 30 days after ordering.
With the departure of Khan, the future of the survey is now in the hand of FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson, who is now appointed President Donald Trump.
Josh Gold, a spokesman of Uber, told Bloomberg that the company had received a request.
“I am convinced that our actions here are reasonable and appropriate under the rules of New York,” Gold said to Bloomberg News.
He added that Uber intends to provide a demanded document in cooperation with the FTC staff.
Similarly, Lyft acknowledged that he had received the inquiry.
Companies Spokesman CJ Macklin emphasized Lyft commitments to follow the Federal Exclusive Law.
“We take the anti -trade method very seriously and completely comply through this process,” McCrin told Brombgg.
This post requires comments from Khan, FTC, Uber, and Lyft.
Following the news of the regulations, the two companies saw a decline in stock prices.
As of 1:30 pm in New York, Uber shares decreased by 1.24 % per share to $ 65.94, and LYFT stocks decreased by 1.41 % to $ 13.24.
In July, Uber and Lyft agreed to the city to reduce the “lockout” of ride -share that affects drivers.
Lockout was a practice that temporarily banned login to the riding app, and was criticized for significantly reducing the amount of paid working hours recorded before the driver's minimum wage calculation. 。
Uber and Lyft have signed an agreement with the city officials, but Uber's spokeswoman claimed that there was no direct transaction between the two competitors.
“We were not colluding and we were not the goal of restricting the driver's payment,” Gold said to Bloomberg News.
However, the press release from Mayor Eric Adams at the time mentioned the “agreement” between Uber and Lyft, whether it configured illegal adjustments between the two dominant market players. I questioned about it.
According to the notes of the FTC staff acquired by the Bloomberg, such an agreement may violate anti -trade method if Uber and Lyft (direct competitors) to adjust the driver's salary structure.
FTC has not started a survey on officials in New York City, but some of the surveys focus on the scope of the city's involvement in the agreement.
Regulatory authorities want to determine whether the participation of city authorities protects Uber and Lyft from anti -trade responsibility, or whether their actions are equivalent to improper promotion of anti -competitive practices.
FTC surveys do not always lead to legal measures, but institutions can make a civil complaint to the federal court or pursue execution procedures in management questions.
When you enter the office, make sure that the United States is the best place for realizing new ideas in the United States, saying, “End Big Tech's reissue to the freedom of competition and speech.” Ferguson has the authority to proceed, and the progress is delayed or completely closed.
As part of the survey, FTC requires communication between Uber, Lyft, the mayor's office, the taxi and the TLC (TLC) in New York City.
The regulatory authorities also demanded a copy of the contract that led to the end of the lockout system.
The mayor's office in New York refused to comment and referred to TLC for all questions.
TLC's spokesman Jason Casten defended the city's attitude on driver salary and emphasized that New York was the first city in the United States, which implemented the minimum salary of riding drivers.
“New York has become the first city in the United States to protect the minimum salary rules of a hard -working vehicle share driver and to be considerably compensated. We will continue to strengthen these protections,” said Casten. I told the news.
He added that the latest policy change was designed to guarantee that even if the driver is not carrying passengers, it is designed to make a living in all the time you can use.
“As promised, our regulations have introduced new rules designed to prevent future lockouts by billions of dollars that exploit a loophole,” said Casten.
The TLC is currently reviewing these new regulations public comments, holding public hearings on Wednesday to further discuss this issue.
October Survey by Bloomberg News Uber and Lyft have shown that they use lockouts systematically to prevent drivers from logging in to the platform and effectively reduce the number of hours counted in the minimum wage calculation.
According to critics, the practice saved millions of dollars to companies at the expense of drivers.
As part of ADAMS's transactions in July 2024, Uber agreed to gradually abolish lockouts, but the time spent LYFT spent transport passengers to at least 50 % of total working hours. Only under the conditions of increasing.
TLC Commissioner David has previously explained the contract as a short -term solution and acknowledged that additional measures could be required.
According to Uber's Spokesman GOLD, the company has completely finished lockout plactis in September 2024, but Lyft has recently stopped locking out.
