Uber & Lyft Drivers in NYC: TLC Rules, Pay & Summonses

In short: If you drive for Uber or Lyft in New York City, TLC regulates you directly. You need a TLC Driver License, your car needs a for-hire vehicle (FHV) license and a base, and the app company is licensed as a High-Volume For-Hire Service (HVFHS). TLC sets a minimum pay rate per trip (raised on March 1, 2026), limits app lockouts, and enforces strict rules against street pickups. This page puts the rules that matter most to app drivers in one place.

How TLC sees your job

TLC's definitions describe a High-Volume For-Hire Service as a licensed business that connects passengers to for-hire vehicles by prearrangement using a booking app and dispatches 10,000 or more trips a day in the city. Today TLC names Lyft and Uber as the companies in this group. A car that affiliates with a High-Volume For-Hire Service is, in TLC's words, a black car, so many black car rules apply to you too. See our black car drivers page and FHV base affiliation.

App driving is by far the largest part of the TLC industry:

In an average month of 2025, about 83,300 different drivers made at least one app-based trip, and they averaged about 6.4 hours a day with trips (TLC Industry Indicators). That "hours" figure counts only hours with a trip in them, so real working time, including waiting, is longer.

Minimum pay: the 2026 rates

Under TLC rule 59D-22, the app company must pay you at least a set amount per mile and per minute for each trip it dispatches. The rates rise every March 1 with inflation. TLC's Industry Notice #26-03 announced a 3.36% increase from March 1, 2026:

These are minimums for each trip, not an hourly wage. If an app pays by the hour instead, the rule says each hour's pay must still be at least the per-mile and per-minute minimums for the trips you did in that hour (59D-22(a)(5)). If you are underpaid, the company faces a $500 fine per underpayment and must pay you the difference as restitution.

To check a trip, use the Driver Pay Calculator on TLC's website, or contact TLC's Driver Protection Unit at (718) 391-5539 or driverprotection@tlc.nyc.gov. Keep your trip receipts and weekly pay statements. Our guide to FHV driver minimum pay goes deeper, the pay estimator runs the formula for one trip, and reading your Uber or Lyft pay statement shows where to find the miles and minutes to check.

Lockouts: the 72-hour and 16-hour rules

Rule 59D-22(c) limits when an app can stop you from accepting trips:

• 72 hours' notice. The app must give you at least 72 hours' notice before restricting your access on a day you could otherwise work.
• 16 hours of access. Once you make yourself available, the app must let you stay available for at least 16 hours. After 8 straight hours offline, the 16 hours start again.
• Exceptions. The app can restrict you without notice for missing licensing credentials, TLC rule violations, or breaking its own rules, including misconduct and excessive cancellations or non-acceptance.

The fine on the company is $500 for each failure. A lockout is not the same as being removed from the app for good; if that happens, see deactivated by Uber or Lyft in NYC. Keep in mind that TLC's own limits still apply: no more than 10 hours of passenger trips in 24 hours and 60 hours in a Monday-to-Sunday week (rules 80-14(f)(2) and 80-14(f)(3)).

The rules app drivers break most easily

The street hail rule deserves its own warning. Under 80-19(c)(1), the penalties for a non-dispatched pickup are $200 to $350 for a first violation, $350 to $500 and up to 30 days' suspension for a second within 24 months, and revocation for a third within 36 months. In Manhattan south of East 96th and West 110th Streets and at the airports, the enhanced penalties under 80-19(c)(2) start at $500, and a third violation within 120 months means revocation. Read unlicensed activity and street hails before you ever take a cash ride.

Traffic summonses are the other big category. The charge most often listed first on taxi and FHV summonses at OATH is the moving violation rule 80-13(a)(2), and points from these add up under the Persistent Violator Program.

If you rent or share the car

If you rent a TLC-plated car from a fleet or share one with a friend, the vehicle's licenses belong to the owner, and so do vehicle summonses such as a missed inspection. But the owner can also be charged if the car is dispatched with a driver who has no valid TLC license (59A-11(b)(1)), so expect the owner to check your licenses. And never let anyone else drive on your TLC license: letting another person use your TLC Driver License is a $10,000 fine and revocation under 80-11(e), and letting an unlicensed person drive a vehicle for hire is a separate violation (80-11(f)(1)).

When a summons arrives

A summons can reach you by mail weeks after the trip. Look up the summons, note the hearing date, and decide quickly: our should I fight my TLC summons tool helps. Download the trip from your app's history right away. Pickup and drop-off times and the route are often the best evidence you have. See evidence for a TLC hearing.