Bronx Assemblyman Kenny Burgos is pushing for laws to stop rideshare firms from price gouging during emergencies within the wake of final week’s Brooklyn subway capturing.
It is frequent for ridesharing companies like Uber and Lyft to increase costs during peak hours.
However, Burgo says when the Brooklyn subway capturing left many individuals with out entry to subways, ridesharing apps have been price gouging as many have been determined for transportation.
Burgos factors to a number of posts on social media that present inflated charges within the Sunset Park space not lengthy after the capturing.
“People were charging hundreds of dollars sometimes for people to go home…people had no choice but to pay these exorbitant fees, and I just think it’s criminal,” he says.
In response, Burgos is introducing the Stop Unreasonable Rideshare Gouging during an Emergency Act, or the SURGE Act.
Burgos says this laws would prohibit firms from implementing surge pricing during declared federal, state and native emergencies, with a $250 fantastic levied for every violation.
”You have individuals who skilled that trauma that day, which is one tragedy in itself, however you will have folks within the neighborhood possibly simply going to work, going to faculty, leaving work, leaving faculty which are nonetheless in that space, that had to pay these surge costs,” Burgos says.
In response to final week’s capturing, an Uber spokesperson advised News 12, “We disabled surge in the vicinity of the incident shortly following and refunded any rider who experienced surge on any trip that started in Brooklyn from 8:30 a.m. on.”
A Lyft spokesperson said in a statement, “Lyft is committed to stepping up during times of need. Last Tuesday morning, in response to the tragic shooting in Brooklyn, we suspended primetime pricing and we adjusted the fares for riders who paid primetime prices when the situation unfolded. We also worked to quickly provide assistance to thousands of riders after these tragic events. We look forward to continuing engaging with all stakeholders to strengthen our role in emergency situations.”
Burgos says he intends to speak with ridesharing apps regarding this legislation in the hopes of finding something that works for everyone.
“I still think Uber and Lyft provide a service to our city and our state…and as a business model, I understand they have different scenarios where they make their money. But there shouldn’t be a scenario where you capitalize on an emergency,” Burgos says.