Uber accidentally underpaid drivers in New York City through more than the last two and a half years.
As noted by several sources, among them TechCrunch, the ride-hailing giant said last week that it had put in place a new way tied to how drivers track their earnings — and in that event had discovered that it had been underpaying those drivers.
The process is one where the company was, per usual, slated to take a 25 percent slice of fares, as measured after taxes and fees. That is standard under the mandates of a 2014 agreement between the company and the drivers. The problem was that the actual calculations took the full fee into consideration, which means that the commission was taken out before the fees and taxes, which, in turn, translated into a larger payment to the company than had been warranted. The site reported that New York is the only market that has found that underpayment.
In the wake of that discovery, the company has said that it is going to pay those drivers all money owed, in addition to interest. The total tally will likely be in the millions of dollars for Uber. The drivers affected, who have completed trips through the past three months, will see funds deposited into their bank accounts in the next several days.
TechCrunch reported that for drivers who have not conducted trips within that time frame, forms will be mailed to confirm bank account info, and they will also receive emails identifying how much back pay they are owed.