Today, Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) Commissioner Sam Levine announced more than $5 million in worker restitution and penalties secured from three major restaurant delivery app companies. Uber Eats, Fantuan, and HungryPanda will pay a combined $5,195,000 in restitution, civil penalties, and damages to more than 49,000 food delivery workers to resolve violations of the City's Minimum Pay Rate for delivery workers. Uber has also agreed to reinstate workers who were wrongfully deactivated between December 2023 and September 2024, which may impact as many as 10,000 people.
"In the first month of this administration, our city has made one thing unmistakably clear: there is zero tolerance for exploiting workers, cutting corners on labor protections, or rigging our economy to serve wealthy corporations at the expense of working people," said Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani. "This settlement won't just deliver real relief to thousands of New Yorkers-it draws a red line for corporate abuse. If you break the law and profit from exploitation, you will be held accountable, swiftly and directly."
"The era of giant corporations juicing profits by underpaying workers is over," said DCWP Commissioner Sam Levine. "I'm proud that this agency is not only returning full back pay, but is recovering damages and penalties to send a strong message that cheating workers will not be tolerated."
Uber Eats will pay $3,150,000 in restitution to more than 48,000 workers citywide and $350,000 in civil penalties and fees. DCWP's investigation found that Uber Eats failed to pay workers the minimum pay rate between December 2023 and September 2024 for time spent on canceled trips. Fantuan will pay more than $468,000 in restitution to 285 workers citywide and more than $52,000 in civil penalties and fees. DCWP's investigation found that Fantuan failed to pay workers the minimum pay rate between December 2023 and February 2024. HungryPanda will pay $1,068,672 in restitution to more than 1,000 workers citywide and more than $106,327 in civil penalties and fees. DCWP's investigation found that HungryPanda failed to pay workers the minimum pay rate between December 2023 and January 2024.
These cases demonstrate the success of DCWP's innovative compliance monitoring systems, which allow the agency to identify and stop violations quickly. By pairing the apps' monthly reporting obligations with direct and targeted engagement with workers, DCWP is able to quickly identify and correct violations of law. Through enforcement, DCWP ensures that affected workers receive the money apps owe them, plus an additional amount to compensate for the violations.
"New York will not stand by while large corporations break the law and take advantage of the working class. The minimum pay rate exists because workers deserve dignity, stability, and fair pay. I want to thank Mayor Mamdani and DCWP Commissioner Levine for enforcing our Delivery Worker Laws and standing with Deliveristas," said State Senator Kristen Gonzalez.
"I applaud the work of the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection and Mayor Mamdani. Today is a victory for working-class New Yorkers over corporate greed," said Council Member Harvey Epstein, Chair, Committee on Consumer and Worker Protection. "For too long, delivery companies have operated a model that preys on vulnerable workers, particularly within immigrant communities, by stealing tips and violating minimum wage laws. This settlement marks the beginning of a new era. The days of multibillion-dollar corporations profiting off the backs of their workers are over. In their first month in office, the mayor is demonstrating their commitment to standing up for workers at every turn."
"When the City Council passes a law to protect workers, we mean it. Mayor Mamdani and DCWP are taking enforcement seriously, and workers are going to see the difference in their pockets," said Council Member Shaun Abreu. "The $5 million dollar settlement over violations of the minimum wage law sends a message to the apps that we are holding them accountable and will make sure that deliveristas receive every cent they've earned."
"I applaud DCWP's relentless work holding companies like Uber accountable for stealing wages from their workers," said Council Member Sandy Nurse. "Deliveristas are an essential part of our city's workforce, and the Council and City Hall are committed to protecting their rights and dignity."
"The laws we make are only as good as the administration and agencies that choose to enforce them. Make no mistake, this $5 million settlement is the result of delivery workers organizing, the City Council passing strong minimum pay protections, and an enforcement apparatus willing to hold powerful companies accountable. This is what it looks like when government does its job: workers are respected, bad actors are penalized, and the law actually means something," said Council Member Jen Gutierrez.
"This settlement is a turning point for delivery workers and for justice in this industry," said Ligia Guallpa, Executive Director of Worker's Justice Project and Co-Founder of its Los Deliveristas Unidos. "For years, app companies treated the law as optional - hiding behind algorithms, stealing wages, and deactivating workers without consequence. The scale of these abuses proves what deliveristas have been saying for years: exploitation is not an accident - it's baked into the app delivery business model. But today's victory also clearly shows that those days are over. We're grateful and proud to stand with Mayor Mamdani and Commissioner Levine in sending a clear message to every app company: workers are organized, the City is watching, and when you break the law, there will be real consequences."
This announcement comes as the Mamdani administration ramps up efforts to crack down on predatory delivery apps, reverse worker losses through aggressive enforcement of the Delivery Worker Laws, and hold companies and individuals accountable for ripping off the hardworking, majority-immigrant deliveristas of this city. Earlier this month, Commissioner Levine announced a lawsuit against Motoclick and sent compliance warnings to over 60 companies including Instacart, DoorDash, Grubhub, Uber, and other app companies, warning them to adhere to expanded delivery worker protection laws that recently went into effect.
This includes Local Law 113, which increases delivery worker pay transparency; Local Laws 123 and 124, which expand the minimum pay rate to cover third-party grocery delivery workers, give timely and weekly payment rights to more contracted delivery workers, and improve bathroom access for contracted delivery workers; and Local Laws 107 and 108, which require restaurant and grocery apps to offer a tipping option at checkout. As a report DCWP released earlier this month revealed, DoorDash and Uber engineered design tricks in their interfaces that lowered workers' tip earnings by $550 million. Those tricks are now illegal.
The City's pioneering Minimum Pay Rate rule, established by Local Law 115 of 2021, dramatically increased average hourly earnings for app-based delivery workers without reducing deliveries. The MPR will increase to $22.13 for the first pay period on or after April 1, 2026. The $22.13 rate reflects a 3.2% adjustment for inflation between December 2024 and December 2025.
