A pay increase for rideshare drivers in Minnesota is now in effect and it’s being met with criticism.

Drivers explained how the new pay rate is calculated could be worse for them in the long run.
               
“We’re still struggling, paying the rent, still struggling, paying everything,” a rideshare driver said. “This is insane.”

It was a disappointing start for rideshare drivers to what was supposed to be a new beginning.

On Dec.1, Uber and Lyft drivers in Minnesota were set to receive $1.28 per mile and 31 cents per minute.

Workers were expecting to get paid that rate per ride right away.

The new policies show that minimum compensation would be paid out to drivers by calculating the minutes and miles driven in a 14-day period, not day to day.

“We were completely misled about the language of this bill,” Farhan Bedel said. “We did not get a pay raise. What the public got was a raise on their end.”

Drivers said they’re concerned the new pay system will short workers money because each trip a customer books has different rates, which won’t be considered in the long run in the two-week calculation.

“The law requires that over two weeks, we pay a certain amount for each mile, and we pay a certain amount for each minute, and the drivers are guaranteed to make that,” Freddi Goldstein, Uber spokeswoman, said.

In a phone interview with Uber, Goldstein did not deny some drivers could be paid less money with this system in the long run, when asked if there was a possibility drivers could be losing money.

“There’s also a possibility they could be making significantly more money,” she responded.

5 EYEWITNESS NEWS reached out to Lyft about the policy and they pointed us to their website, which also outlines a similar pay system.

Uber explained riders can expect to see a 25 percent increase in fare prices.

The drivers said they plan to go to the State Capitol to address these issues about the new bill.

We reached out to several policymakers on this bill, including Sen. Omar Fateh and Rep. Hodan Hassan, but 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS has not heard back yet.