New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection announced a more than $5 million settlement Thursday with three food delivery companies that underpaid workers and agreed to reinstate up to 10,000 wrongfully deactivated delivery workers, city officials said.
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 for violations of the city’s Minimum Pay Rate law, according to the mayor’s office. Uber Eats agreed to reinstate workers deactivated between December 2023 and September 2024 as part of the settlement, officials said.
“In the first month of this administration, our city has made one thing unmistakably clear: there is zero tolerance for exploiting workers,” Mamdani said in a statement. “If you break the law and profit from exploitation, you will be held accountable, swiftly and directly.”
DCWP Commissioner Sam Levine said the agency is returning back pay and additional damages, and that the enforcement action sends a message that wage violations will not be tolerated.
Under the city’s investigation, Uber Eats was found to have failed to pay the minimum pay rate for time spent on canceled trips between December 2023 and September 2024. Uber Eats will pay $3,150,000 in restitution and $350,000 in penalties and fees, according to the release. Fantuan will pay more than $468,000 in restitution and $52,000 in penalties, and HungryPanda will pay $1,068,672 in restitution and $106,327 in penalties.
The settlement comes as the Mamdani administration increases enforcement of worker protections for app-based delivery workers, including expanded minimum pay requirements and transparency rules. The city said the Minimum Pay Rate will rise to $22.13 per hour beginning April 1, 2026, to reflect inflation.
State Senator Kristen Gonzalez and several City Council members praised the settlement as a victory for workers. Council Member Harvey Epstein said the city has demonstrated its commitment to holding companies accountable for labor violations.
Labor advocates welcomed the reinstatement provision, saying wrongful deactivation can mean sudden loss of income and housing instability for deliveristas.
The settlement reflects enforcement under the city’s Minimum Pay Rate rule established by Local Law 115 of 2021 and additional delivery worker protections enacted through recent local laws.
