Congestion Charges on Receipts & Pay Statements

In short: Congestion charges are passenger charges. On a taxi receipt they appear under surcharges (the meter adds them). On an app trip they are part of what the rider pays, separate from your driver pay. TLC's own data definitions back this up: in Uber/Lyft trip records, driver_pay is "total driver pay (not including tolls or tips and net of commission, surcharges, or taxes)", and the congestion charges are separate fields (HVFHV data dictionary).

So if a congestion charge reduces your pay, something is wrong. TLC says the state congestion surcharge "cannot be taken out of the driver's pay" (TLC). This guide shows where each charge lives, what the rules require on receipts, and how to check your own records. Amounts are as of October 12, 2026.

The charges and where they appear

Sources: TLC taxi fare page, NYS Tax, TLC data dictionaries. Airport fee on app trips: TLC's high-volume dictionary (dated March 18, 2025) says $2.50 "for both drop off and pick up at LaGuardia, Newark, and John F. Kennedy airports". The Port Authority sets this fee: its approved schedule raised the FHV pick-up and drop-off fee to $3.50 from March 15, 2026 (Port Authority), so the dictionary's $2.50 is out of date. Check the current amount before you dispute one.

Two worked examples

Yellow taxi, Penn Station to Wall Street, 2 p.m. on a weekday. The meter shows the metered fare, then adds the $0.50 MTA State Surcharge, the $1.00 improvement surcharge, the $2.50 state congestion surcharge (the trip is below 96th Street) and the $0.75 MTA congestion charge (the trip is at or below 60th Street). That is $4.75 in add-ons before any toll or tip (TLC taxi fare). None of the $4.75 is yours, and none of it should be taken from your share of the fare.

Uber trip, Long Island City to Midtown. The rider pays the base fare plus fees, including $1.50 (MTA congestion charge) and $2.75 (state surcharge), Black Car Fund and sales tax. Your pay is set by the per-mile and per-minute minimum (as of October 12, 2026: $1.283 a mile and $0.681 a minute for a non-WAV trip in the city, TLC rule 59D-22). The congestion charges are not in that formula, so they should not change your pay for the trip. See FHV driver minimum pay.

Receipt items the rules require

Taxi and green cab hail trips

TLC rule 80-16(d) says you must offer a receipt at the end of the trip (personally or through the meter system) and give one when asked. It must show (chapter 80):

date · time · medallion or SHL number · trip number · total fare · tolls · surcharges · extras · tip (if paid by card) · last four digits of the card · your hack license number · the 311 complaint number.

The fine is $50 if you plead guilty before a hearing ($75 after), plus 1 point. Congestion charges belong in surcharges, added by the meter. Don't type them in by hand; see toll receipts on the taxi meter.

Uber and Lyft trips

Rule 59D-20(d) requires a high-volume service to give the passenger a receipt with the dispatching base number, vehicle and driver license numbers, the total, "itemized fees charged (if any)" and the 311 number (chapter 59). The rider sees the congestion charges as fees; you see your pay.

Your own receipts as a driver

• From a base (FHV drivers): rule 59B-18(f)(5) requires a written receipt "for every financial transaction" with the date, amount, purpose and the rule or contract term that authorizes each payment or deduction. For high-volume bases it must show the minimum per-minute and per-mile rates, and for earnings, the amount passengers paid and the miles and minutes you were paid for. Fine: $200 per missing receipt.
• From a taxi owner or agent (lease drivers): rule 58-21(g) requires a written receipt for every payment or deduction under the lease, with date, recipient, amount, purpose and the section that allows it (chapter 58).

A congestion deduction with no rule or contract term on the receipt is a red flag.

Where tolls fit

Tolls are not congestion charges, but they show up next to them:

• Taxi: the passenger pays the actual E-ZPass toll, added to the fare at the end of the trip. Charging more than the E-ZPass amount is an overcharge under rule 80-17 (rule 58-26(f)(3)).
• Uber/Lyft: rule 59D-17(c): the company "must remit to the Driver the entirety of any toll paid by the Driver during a dispatched trip". Fine $500 plus restitution. In trip data, tolls are a separate field and are not in driver_pay.

More: who pays tolls on Uber/Lyft trips and JFK to Manhattan tolls by route.

Cash trips and base deductions

The MTA's agreement with FHV bases makes the base pay the MTA for every zone trip, collected or not. On cash trips where the fare doesn't pass through the base, it lets the base pursue the charge from the "Driver, Vehicle owner, affiliate or other party", including by offsetting against fare money "where permitted" (MTA base agreement, §2.01(d)). That is between your base and the MTA; TLC's receipt rule still applies to any deduction from you. If the passenger paid the charge in cash to you, it is the passenger's money for the MTA, not yours.

Spot-check list for drivers

If something is wrong, ask the base or lessor first, in writing. App drivers with pay problems can contact TLC's Driver Protection Unit at (718) 391-5539 or driverprotection@tlc.nyc.gov. More help: Uber/Lyft pay statements in NYC.

Data dictionary definitions

These are TLC's exact field definitions (yellow, high-volume):

• cbd_congestion_fee: "Per-trip charge for MTA's Congestion Relief Zone starting Jan. 5, 2025."
• congestion_surcharge: "Total amount collected in trip for NYS congestion surcharge."
• tolls_amount / tolls: "Total amount of all tolls paid in trip."
• base_passenger_fare (app): "Base passenger fare before tolls, tips, taxes, and fees."
• driver_pay (app): "Total driver pay (not including tolls or tips and net of commission, surcharges, or taxes)."

That is why our trip statistics report congestion fees separately from pay. See also airport fee statistics, Port Authority summonses, the toll changes timeline, future amounts in congestion pricing increases, term definitions for Congestion Relief Zone and congestion surcharge, and the overview congestion pricing for TLC drivers. All tolls: tolls hub.