Zohran Mamdani is sending a clear message to app company workers: wage theft, arbitrary deactivations, and tip manipulation won’t be tolerated. 

In just his first month in office, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has moved fast and directly against delivery‑app abuses. 

A forceful lawsuit, settlements totaling millions of dollars, reinstatement agreements, and enforcement warnings all arrived within weeks of his inauguration. Under Mamdani, minimum‑pay enforcement, protection from deactivation, and transparency around tips became enforcement priorities in a matter of weeks. 

“No longer will we tolerate corporate mistreatment of workers,” he said Jan. 15, as the city announced a blitz of enforcement actions and sent letters warning 60 app companies that they’re expected to follow the rules. The message wasn’t subtle: compliance with delivery‑worker laws is no longer optional or negotiable. 

Two weeks later, Mamdani backed that message by announcing $5 million in settlements with Uber Eats, Fantuan, and HungryPanda that will return millions of dollars to tens of thousands of workers. In Uber’s case, the settlement could result in the reinstatement of workers who were unfairly deactivated—blocked from the app and their source of income. 

Since Mamdani took office Jan. 1, New York City’s government isn’t just promising to protect delivery workers. It’s enforcing the rules, calling out illegal practices, and showing a willingness to confront powerful app companies. 

Treating Wage Theft as a Serious Offense 

One early signal came from a lawsuit announced Jan. 15 against a restaurant delivery platform called Motoclick. It markets itself to businesses that want to keep deliveries in-house, rather than rely on third-party apps like GrubHub and Uber Eats. 

The allegations are familiar to anyone who’s been in this line of work: 

• Workers were charged a $10 fee every time an order was canceled. 

• Motoclick deducted the entire amount of refunded orders from workers’ pay. 

• Some workers were told they owed money back to the platform after routine problems. 

These aren’t unusual practices in the industry. What’s unusual is the city coming out with a forceful push that treats wage theft as a business-ending offense. 

Back Pay for Nearly 50,000 NYC Delivery Workers 

Last month, the city also announced that three big companies — Uber Eats, Fantuan, and HungryPanda — will pay a combined $5.19 million for allegedly failing to meet the city’s minimum pay rules during 2023 and 2024. 

Here’s how it breaks down: 

• Uber Eats: $3.15 million for more than 48,000 workers 

• Fantuan: roughly $468,000 for 285 workers 

• HungryPanda: more than $1 million for over 1,000 workers 

These amounts cover wages the these companies should have paid workers. Some people will see small amounts, some more, but the scale — nearly 50,000 workers recovering wages they earned — is encouraging. 

Deactivations Reversed for Thousands of Uber Eats Workers 

One part of the Uber settlement stands out: the company agreed to reinstate workers who were unfairly deactivated between December 2023 and September 2024. 

The city said as many as 10,000 workers may be reactivated. 

For years, companies have used deactivation as a punishment, often with little or no explanation and no meaningful opportunity to appeal. But a new law in New York City protects delivery workers from arbitrary deactivations. (A separate law covers ride-hailing drivers.) 

The signal from the Mamdani administration is clear: reactivating drivers is a course correction in a part of the industry that almost never sees them. 

Increased Funding to Enforce Worker Protections 

On Jan. 26, several new worker‑protection laws took full effect. They target issues workers have raised repeatedly: 

• Pay Parity for Grocery Deliveries: Grocery workers now get the same minimum pay rate as food delivery workers. 

• Weekly Pay & Pay Transparency: Apps must pay workers weekly and provide a clear, itemized breakdown of earnings. 

• Easy-to-Find Tip Line: There must be a tipping option at checkout, not buried somewhere after the order. 

The last point is particularly important. A January 13 report from the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection found that changes Uber Eats and DoorDash made to their apps cost workers more than $550 million in tips. Redesigned screens made it harder for customers to tip, according to the report. 

New rules now ban that kind of design change. 

Mamdani has also called for doubling the funding for the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, the agency that handles enforcement. For delivery workers, that would mean more investigators and more attention on whether the apps are actually following the new rules. 

Together, these updates mark a real tightening of the rules around how apps handle pay and tipping. They spell out the standards that Mamdani’s administration will enforce and shed light on the enforcement operation he intends to build. 

Need Help Understanding Your Rights? 

If you’re a delivery or other app‑based worker and you’re unsure how these changes affect you, it can help to talk with an experienced employment attorney. 

At Outten & Golden, we handle these issues every day and can help you understand your rights. Just call our client intake team at 866-772-4133. We’re available Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 9pm Eastern time. 

This was co-written by Jon Steingart, Senior Content Strategist at Outten & Golden LLP.