App-based delivery workers in New York City have pocketed an estimated $104 million in additional tips since the city began enforcing strict new tipping rules six months ago, Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani announced Wednesday.
A new report released by City Hall and the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) shows that average tips have nearly doubled since the rules took effect on Jan. 26. The city’s roughly 70,000 delivery drivers and bicyclists are now on track to collect an extra $184 million in tips annually — amounting to roughly $2,287 more per worker each year.
The surge in tips follows aggressive city enforcement of local laws aimed at curbing deceptive user interface designs adopted by major delivery platforms such as Uber Eats and DoorDash.
“For years, delivery apps buried the tip button to pad their own bottom line, and delivery workers paid the price,” Mamdani said in a statement. “We changed the law, enforced it, and it’s working: $104 million has gone back into the pockets of the workers who keep this city fed, rain or shine.”
When the city’s landmark minimum pay rate for app workers originally took effect in late 2023, several major delivery platforms modified their checkouts to hide or push tip prompts until after an order was completed. A subsequent DCWP investigation found that the changes caused tips to plunge by about 75%, costing workers an estimated $550 million in lost gratuities.
The Jan. 26 regulations forced third-party food and grocery apps operating in the city to display clear, upfront tipping prompts prior to checkout. Under the law, apps must present a default tip option of at least 10% alongside a custom tip field.
According to city data, average tips on restaurant delivery apps rose from $1.18 per order in the four weeks leading up to the Jan. 26 enforcement date to $2.29 per order in the four weeks that followed — an increase of $1.11 per trip.
App companies previously argued that requiring upfront tipping would drive down customer orders, but city officials said delivery demand has remained robust. Consumers placed an average of 3.3 million orders weekly following the rules’ implementation, up by 700,000 weekly orders compared with December 2023.
“The data are clear: allowing consumers the clear ability to tip hardworking deliveristas benefits our workers and strengthens our economy,” DCWP Commissioner Samuel A.A. Levine said Wednesday.
Advocates and labor organizers who spent years lobbying for the protections celebrated the report’s findings.
“Today’s announcement is proof that organized workers can overcome even the most powerful corporations when government chooses to stand with working people,” said Ligia Guallpa, executive director of the Workers’ Justice Project and co-founder of Los Deliveristas Unidos.
Overall earnings for NYC delivery workers — combining base pay and tips — have climbed to $27.32 per hour, up 161% from $10.48 per hour prior to the implementation of the city’s minimum pay framework in late 2023. The city’s current minimum pay standard for active delivery time is set at $22.13 per hour before tips.
Kishor Panthi
View More PostsKishor Panthi is the founder and editor-in-chief of Khasokhas and NepYork. He is the author of three books, “Kampan,” "UNTRANSLATABLE" and “Zero Mile.” He writes about social issues, immigration, and politics.
