How Fast Must My Base or Lessor Pay My Earnings?

Within one week of each trip. TLC rule 59B-18(f)(4)(ii) says a base must pay you earnings for every trip "within one week of the trip's completion". The same one-week rule applies to an FHV owner who leases you the car and receives your earnings (§59A-21(d)(2)). Taxi drivers on a shift lease must be paid their credit card and app fares every day (§58-21(f)). A late payment costs the base or owner a $100 fine, and the hearing officer must order them to pay what you are owed (TLC chapter 59).

The deadlines by who pays you

Sources: TLC chapter 59; TLC chapter 58.

Exceptions (not for Uber or Lyft)

The one-week base rule has one exception. It applies only when all three are true: the driver and base work under a franchise agreement filed with the New York Attorney General or a cooperative agreement filed with TLC; that agreement explicitly sets when drivers are paid; and the base does not operate as or dispatch for a high-volume service. So Uber, Lyft and any base dispatching their trips must always pay within a week. A collective bargaining agreement can also replace these rules (§59B-18(f)(8)).

For high-volume companies there is one more protection. When it applied for its license, the company had to certify that if a rider's payment fails on a completed trip, you still get the entire amount owed, unless it reasonably believes your account is linked to fraud (§59D-05(d)(1), $250 fine).

Taxi card and app payouts

For a taxi shift or vehicle lease, the owner (or its agent) must pay you, each day, the total of all non-cash payments from your shift, minus only the Taxicab Improvement Surcharge. Payment and access to the money must be at no cost to you. If the owner hands this job to another company and that company doesn't pay, the owner must pay you in full, if you report the non-payment to the owner within 90 days (§58-21(f)). TLC's driver pay page also notes the fleet credit card surcharge is capped at $7 per shift and $49 per week (TLC Driver Pay for Drivers).

What to do if you're paid late

TLC's Driver Protection Unit investigates "failure to pay drivers what they earned by providing a trip" and retaliation for complaining. If a trip was never paid at all, see my base didn't pay me for a trip. What your receipts must show is on what receipts must my base give me?, and the full agreement rules are on FHV base agreement rules.

Related rules and exceptions

• Summonses. A base can't make you pay a summons not written to you, with the same franchise/co-op exception: see can my base make me pay a summons?
• Trip records. Your base must also send TLC a record of every dispatched trip, with your license number and pickup and drop-off details (59B-19(a)). Keep your own trip history too, so you can match each trip to a payment.
• Minimum pay. Getting paid on time is separate from getting paid enough; check each trip with the minimum pay estimator. More on the apps hub.