The New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) passed a proposed rule on Wednesday requiring that all for-hire vehicle drivers be provided a way to receive tips, including ride-hailing apps such as Uber, Lyft, Juno and Gett. The rule was proposed by the Independent Drivers Guild, a member group representing over 50,000 drivers for app-based ride-hailing services in NYC.
The rule states that for-hire services must offer passengers an option to tip their driver using the same method of payment they used for their trip, which in the case of Uber, Lyft and others driven by app-based hailing means a credit card or other in-app payment method.
Lyft already provided a tipping option to its riders, and Uber recently introduced a new tipping feature in-app, with rollout of tips in New York City occurring just last week. That means it’s already in compliance with the rule passed by the TLC (via unanimous vote, by the way) today.
The impending rule likely at least in part factored into Uber’s decision to allow tipping in-app, since it looked likely to succeed. But Uber is also seeking to improve its standing and relationship with drivers, so adding a tipping feature is a big part of that ongoing effort, too.