New York City Enacts Various Laws Regulating App-Based Delivery Platforms

New York City is poised to continue its aggressive regulation of online delivery platforms. Through the NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP), the City already requires delivery platforms either to (1) pay each delivery worker (a) at least $21.44 per hour multiplied by that worker’s trip time during the pay period and (b) in the aggregate, pay all delivery workers at least $21.44 per hour multiplied by the total time all workers are logged into the platform’s app, or (2) pay each worker $35.73 per hour for time spent actively making deliveries.

New Regulatory Requirements

As we previewed here, effective January 26, 2026, NYC is imposing a multitude of new regulatory requirements.  For “third-party food delivery services” and “third-party grocery delivery services” that engage independent contractors to deliver food and groceries, such companies must allow customers to pay a tip to delivery workers before or at the same time the customer places an order and must include an option to pay a tip of at least 10 percent of the purchase price.

For “delivery services”—defined as “any website, mobile application, or other internet service that facilitates, offers, or arranges for the delivery of goods to or from a location in the city,” subject to certain exceptions—that engage independent contractors to deliver goods, these new requirements include:  

• Disclosures: Each time a covered delivery service offers or assigns a trip to a delivery worker, it must disclose the address of the pick-up location(s), the estimated or expected completion time of the trip, the routed distance from the first pick-up location to the final drop-off, and the pay and any gratuity offered for the trip.
• Payments: Delivery services must pay delivery workers at least once per pay period and no later than seven days after the end of the pay period.
• No fees: Delivery services must offer at least one form of payment that does not charge the delivery worker any fees.
• Pay statements: Delivery services must provide each delivery worker with a written pay statement itemizing gross and net compensation and all permissible deductions for the pay period, no later than seven days after the end of that pay period.
• Delivery bags: Delivery services must provide a free insulated delivery bag to a delivery worker after the worker completes six deliveries of goods that are customarily transported in an insulated food delivery bag.
• Notice of Rights: Delivery services must provide covered delivery workers with a DCWP‑approved notice of rights through one or more approved methods.

Remedies

Covered entities that violate these laws may be subject to civil penalties of $500 per worker, per violation, as well as monetary relief to each affected worker for each violation. The law also provides covered workers with a private right of action for certain violations.  The DCWP has jurisdiction to administer and enforce these laws, and the agency’s new Commissioner has vowed a “blitz” of enforcement activity to protect app-based delivery workers. 

Takeaway

 Covered app‑based delivery services operating in New York City face a host of new compliance requirements and should expect robust enforcement by the DCWP.