Council Member David Yassky, chair of the Council’s Committee on Small Business, unveiled a new report on the state of taxi drivers under the current brokerage system, “Running on Empty: How taxi brokers in New York City are evading the lease caps at the expense of working drivers.”
Council Member Yassky was joined by Bhairavi Desai, executive director of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, and dozens of hard working New York City taxi drivers at the press conference held on the steps of City Hall on Monday.
Currently, two out of five taxi drivers on the road lease their vehicles from licensed brokers, while the Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) does little to regulate this sector of the industry.
The absence of regulation has led brokers to circumvent an $800 per week medallion lease cap by charging drivers double the actual cost of the vehicle over the life of the standard contract.
According to the Taxi Workers Alliance, these biased contracts result in the average taxi driver working six to eight hours of every 12-hour shift to cover the costs associated with leasing the car and medallion for that shift.
“Currently, 40 percent of taxi drivers are being charged $38,000 for a vehicle that would cost $19,000 on the open market by licensed brokers who operate in a largely unregulated environment,” Council Member Yassky said.
“By circumventing the medallion lease cap through onerous fees and drastically overcharging for vehicles, licensed brokers are exploiting hard working New Yorkers who are already feeling strapped due to the economic crunch. The report we’re unveiling today will shine a light on these injustices, and lay out practical solutions to help solve the problem.”
“Taxi drivers are having their incomes gutted because the companies operate without any real regulatory oversight,” Taxi Workers Alliance executive director Bhairavi Desai said.
“Especially in these economic times and for workers without any health care or pension, we need regulations to protect drivers’ hard-earned incomes. If DOV operators were to go out of business, New Yorkers would be left without 40 percent of taxis on the roads.”
In addition to overcharging for vehicles, the report identifies several problems areas with the standard contract available to drivers through the brokerage system: no reasonable exit clause for the driver, unreasonable insurance provisions that put an undue burden on the driver, and the occurrence of brokers pulling medallions and vehicles from drivers during the life of a contract.
Drivers are subject to such inequities because they are largely independent contractors and have no collective bargaining ability, according to Yassky, as well as a lack of TLC regulation. To that end, the report recommends a uniform leasing contract with terms established by the TLC.
The report comes on the eve of the Taxi and Limousine Commission’s budget hearing on Thursday, March 26, during which the Commission will be asked to address the overcharging of drivers and to differentiate between hybrid and non-hybrid vehicle lease caps. Currently, there are more than 47,000 licensed taxi drivers in the City of New York.
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{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
It’s a crime shame that NOW someone is bringing this to light. The Commissioner has to be well aware of what going on. However, he has chosen to let it ride. Cab driver who lease their cab have been paying $1,300 per year for at least two years for vehicle expense. Prior to this they paid $150.00 towards the tax stamp and a additional $30.00 or so for the registration. Anyone can see that the brokers have circumvented the lease cap. The CEO of GM was asked to step down. Maybe the Commissioner as well as the Mayor, will now see that the greed of others has a negative impact.
In my opinion, The commissioner should resign. I’m sure he knows whats happening. Now I would compare the TLC with the likes of the financial houses of wall street. NO ONE is Monitoring the TLC and we, the hard working middle class are being “raked thru the coals”.
Does the TLC commissioner care at all about the
Taxi Drivers ???? NO. Does the Mayor care at
all about the Taxi Drivers ??? NO. These are really
bad people who don’t mind to abuse the powers granted
them. Bloomberg thought to be President, didnl’t get it.
He thought to be V.P.. Did not get it. So he goes and
signs himself another 4 years as mayor. You see “the law”
applies to taxi drivers. But he himself is above the NYC laws.
There is an unscrupulous broker… 28th St.Mgt. this particular one is one of the worst.
It overcharges..it steals from the accident insurance that it dues to the drivers.
The abuse of desperate and under priveleged people is not a sign of a great democracy . Taking advantage of a bad economy to abuse working class should be prosecuted by the law .Today its taxi drivers ,tommorow a whole country will be slaving for peanuts .Don’t let it happen ,don’t let a few to destroy America .Call your congressmen to report unfairness .Stay united, together we can make a diffrence.
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