The “salary”, or rather the minimum income of drivers Uber will increase in France, which should unsurprisingly lead to an increase in prices for individuals.
Pressured by legislative developments in Europe, Uber announced on Wednesday December 20, 2023 the increase in the minimum income per trip for its drivers. Note that the operators Bolt and Free Now are also affected by this increase, which is included in a larger sectoral agreement. The increase should be applied from February 2024. It should increase the amount of Uber trips for users. Let’s see the financial details of this news.
Uber drivers get several major guarantees
More concretely, to date, the minimum income per trip made for an Uber driver (or other VTC platforms, vehicles with drivers), is set at 7.65 euros. From next February, it will increase to 9 euros per race. If the administrative changes will take place in May 2024, the increase in income will begin in February, as we said.
But that’s not all, because in addition to the minimum wage per trip, the agreement sets a guaranteed income of 30 euros per hour, and 1 euro per kilometer. Solid guarantees for drivers. “ The set of guarantees on which we have just agreed proves the strength of sectoral social dialogue in France », Reacted Yves Weisselberger, president of the French Federation of passenger transport by reservation (FFTPR).
Price increases expected for users of Uber and other platforms
Because the platforms will always want to keep more and even increase margins, it is a safe bet that trips by Uber and others will increase quite significantly at the start of next year. Bad news for consumers, but maybe good news for taxis?
Let’s not lie to ourselves: it’s not really out of joy that Uber and the other VTC platforms decided on this increase. They were, in a way, forced to do so. The European Union, notably taking the example of what is already being done in cities like New York, recently approved a bill aimed at granting social benefits to employees of application-based companies.
Once passed, this law is expected to prevent the rather unfair classification of workers as self-employed, thereby guaranteeing them essential labor and social protection rights. The point of the regulations is to get as close as possible to salaried employment.
Regardless, this collaborative approach demonstrates a positive development towards fairer working relations within the carpooling and VTC sector in France. This measure could create a new standard for working conditions in the sector, while intensifying competition between platforms. And drivers, who have long faced precariousness, will now be able to benefit from fairer and more stable remuneration.
Source : Bloomberg
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