TLC Driver Protection Unit: Get Money You're Owed

In short: TLC's Driver Protection Unit (DPU) investigates when a base, app, fleet or vehicle owner keeps money that belongs to you: unpaid trips, a security deposit that wasn't returned, lease or car-purchase overcharges, missing leases or receipts, identity theft, and retaliation. Contact it at (718) 391-5539 or driverprotection@tlc.nyc.gov with your papers. It does not handle summonses, licensing, or loans.

The DPU is a unit inside TLC, not a lawyer for you. Its power comes from TLC rules that let a hearing officer order the company to pay you back. This page explains how to use it well. Facts are from TLC's DPU page, the Owner/Driver Resource Center FAQ and the TLC rule books, read on October 12, 2026.

What the DPU investigates

TLC lists six kinds of illegal conduct the unit investigates when a TLC licensee complains:

1. Unpaid trips. "Failure to pay drivers what they earned by providing a trip." This includes Uber and Lyft paying less than the TLC minimum per trip: TLC's driver pay FAQ says TLC "will investigate and prosecute driver complaints" and tells drivers to email the DPU if they believe they are not getting the correct pay.
2. Security deposits not returned. Taxi owners must return a deposit no later than 30 days after the lease ends, by check or by cash with a receipt (rule 58-21(e)(6)).
3. Missing documents. Leases, receipts and other papers TLC rules require. For example, an FHV lease must be in writing and you must get a signed copy (59A-21(b)); a taxi owner must give receipts for every payment and credit.
4. Overcharges on a lease or a vehicle purchase, such as fees not in your lease or more than the taxi lease caps.
5. Identity theft, for example someone else using your license or account to get paid.
6. Retaliation for complaining to TLC.

The ODRC FAQ adds that the DPU mediates between TLC licensees, reviews TLC rules to improve drivers' rights, and runs Drivers' Rights trainings around the city. TLC's contact page describes it as helping licensees in "financial disputes or concerns, particularly those arising from white-collar matters involving other licensees or industry affiliates."

What it does not handle

If a summons came out of a passenger complaint, see passenger complaint summons instead.

How to file

TLC does not publish a special form for the DPU. Its pages give a phone number and an email. Email is better for a money claim because it gives you a written record and lets you attach proof.

You can also ask for a DPU referral through the Owner/Driver Resource Center, which books appointments online.

A simple email you can adapt

Keep it short and factual. For example:

Subject: Unpaid earnings complaint – [your name], TLC license [number]

I drive a vehicle affiliated with [base name, base license number]. The base has not paid my earnings for trips I completed from [date] to [date]. By my records, the unpaid amount is $[amount]. I asked the base in writing on [date] and [their answer / no answer]. Attached: my base agreement, pay statements for those weeks, trip list and my message to the base. Please contact me at [phone] in [language].

Replace the brackets with your facts. Don't guess at numbers: if you are not sure of the amount, say how you calculated it. Don't send originals; send copies and keep the originals.

How long it takes

TLC does not publish a time limit or a typical timeline for DPU cases. Keep a log of every call and email (date, who you spoke with, what they said), answer requests quickly, and follow up in writing if you hear nothing. Separate deadlines can still apply to you: for example, a TLC summons you received has its own hearing date, and the DPU does not pause it.

Evidence that makes a complaint work

What the rules say you can get back

The DPU's leverage is that many money rules come with mandatory restitution: when a hearing officer finds a violation, the rule says they must order the company to pay the driver back, on top of the fine to TLC. Examples from the rule books:

These are what the rules print as of October 12, 2026. Whether a hearing finds a violation depends on the facts and the evidence. This is general information, not legal advice.

Retaliation protection

If you worry about losing your car, shifts or dispatches after a complaint, TLC rules address that directly. Each of the retaliation rules says retaliation "will be broadly construed, and will include imposing any adverse condition or consequence on the Driver or withholding or withdrawing any beneficial condition." If you are punished after complaining, report it to the DPU as a new complaint, with dates. See can my owner or base retaliate.

Common cases

• App underpayment. Check the trip with TLC's Driver Pay Calculator, then email the trip details. Our FHV minimum pay guide shows the formula.
• Earnings sent to someone else. If your app earnings went to another person's account, that may be identity theft; see Uber earnings sent to someone else.
• Taxi deposit kept. See taxi security deposit rules.
• E-ZPass balance disputes with a fleet. See E-ZPass replenishment accounts on a lease.

Other places that may help

For an app deactivation (rather than unpaid money), the DPU is not an appeal office. The city's Department of Consumer and Worker Protection would handle deactivation complaints under Local Law 52 of 2026, but a federal court blocked that law in July 2026. For lawyers and hotlines, see free legal help. Short definitions: Driver Protection Unit. Insurance terms like PIP are a separate topic. Browse more on the money and driver rights hubs.