According to a survey report from a New York City institution obtained by the Zhītōng Cáijīng APP, since the minimum wage law went into effect in New York at the end of 2023, the delivery fees paid by New York residents have increased significantly by 58%, indicating that Uber, DoorDash, and other restaurant delivery services have passed on most of the increased costs of salaries and other expenses to their customers.

Although merchants are also paying more to delivery services provided by Uber Technologies, DoorDash, and Just Eat Takeaway.com NV (the parent company of Grubhub and Seamless), customers are the first to be negatively affected. In the first quarter of 2024, people who order through these types of applications will need to pay an average of $20.1 million per week in delivery fees, an increase of 58% compared to the same period last year. By contrast, the relevant application service fees paid by restaurants participating in the survey increased by only 13% from the same period last year.

According to a report released Thursday by the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP), the overall income of delivery personnel has increased, although tips have decreased significantly. Wages increased to an average of $19.26 per hour, up 64% from the previous year before the minimum wage law became a US law. During the same period, tips fell by 60%.

The results of this investigation in New York City highlight the impact felt by consumers and local business owners, as delivery companies defend their profits in various markets, often unaffected by some new regulations.

But since the end of last year, Uber Eats, DoorDash, and Grubhub have responded to the new minimum wage regulations by raising service fees and modifying the tipping functions within their apps to make prepaid delivery costs appear lower. These companies have also implemented scheduling systems to limit the number of couriers working within a given time frame.

The report also found that in the first quarter of this year, the number of delivery food contractors decreased by 9% compared to the same period last year. Representatives of Uber Eats, Grubhub, and DoorDash pointed out that this decline proves that the minimum wage model is not feasible.

A spokesperson for Uber said: "This regulation is a job market killer, contrary to why millions of people choose app-based work." He claimed that the number of Uber Eats employees decreased by 0.012 million people before the regulation took effect, and "those couriers who still work need to work harder, with hourly delivery volumes increasing by 80% compared to before the rule changed."

A spokesperson for Grubhub said in a statement, "DCWP predicted in a 2022 study that delivery commissioners could earn more, but the real opportunity for huge profits would be concentrated in fewer hands." He added that the report "showed it to be true."

A representative for DoorDash called the minimum wage policy "extreme and fractured," adding that the rule has resulted in actual cost increases for customers, meaning fewer orders, reduced earning opportunities for couriers, and possibly fewer couriers available.

DoorDash said in a statement: "Since these policies came into effect, we will continue to focus on finding a better way to benefit users, merchants, and consumers."

The largest US takeaway service company, DoorDash, downplayed the impact of the new minimum wage regulations in key cities such as New York and Seattle in its latest performance report, stating that orders in these two cities decreased by less than 1%.

At the same time, the data report released on Thursday showed that delivery orders are generally increasing, not decreasing. According to DCWP data, couriers completed approximately 2.8 million delivery orders per week in the first three months of this year, an increase of 8% from the same period last year.

"These powerful data results once again show that we don't have to make the wrong choice between business performance growth and worker rights," said Ligia Guallpa, executive director of the Worker's Justice Project, a non-profit organization lobbying for minimum wage legislation.