With Winter Storm Juno quickly approaching, most New Yorkers are staying home over the next 48 hours. Most people see this as an opportunity to work from home and binge-watch Netflix, but the New York Government is using it as a chance to make sure Uber obeys their price caps.
Buzzfeed News reported that for the first time since the NY Attorney General and Uber agreed in 2014, the NYC government will track Uber's pricing model during an emergency to make sure they're not acting in an unethical manner.
In times of crisis, it is harder to get around NYC because of a lack of taxis and bus travel. This creates a larger market for alternative transportation methods, such as Uber or Lyft. However, with that market comes a higher risk for the drivers.
This higher market/higher risk model inspired Uber to adopt a "charge more during crises" model of driving to make up for the potential risk. However, this method looked like a manipulation of people's need to move around. NY Attorney General Eric Schneiderman asked Uber to agree to not charge more than its normal price during "abnormal disruptions of the market." Currently, the price cap is at 2.8x the standard rate.
The Attorney General's press secretary told Buzzfeed News that "provided there is an abnormal disruption in the market during the expected storm, the Attorney General's Office will be monitoring all providers of essential services, including transportation, for price gouging......In addition, the office will be working with Uber to ensure last year's price cap agreement is in full effect."
