New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio may have lost a recent battle against Uber, but he’s determined to win the war.
City officials are examining how to strike back at Uber after being unable to cap the amount of new drivers they can hire. Now they’re looking to limit the car sharing company’s price system where fares rise during high times of demand, reported the New York Post.
The car sharing company has come out against any notion of a price cap.
“Uber provides thousands of NYC driver-partners with better economic opportunities and the flexibility to be their own boss. Uber is against any bill that threatens the progress driver-partners — predominantly from the outer boroughs — are able to enjoy,” Uber spokeswoman Alix Anfang told the NY Post.
According to the Daily Caller, the New York City Council’s press office was unable to confirm plans for an analysis of capping Uber’s surging prices.
Uber is in the cross hairs of many New York City politicians including Councilman David Greenfield. Greenfield introduced a bill last November “prohibiting for hire vehicles from charging excessive rates.” This legislation would cap surge pricing to 100 percent of the basic fare and would penalize drivers who charged high rates.
Any such legislation has been slammed by economics.
Amongst the IGM Economic Expert Panel, 80 percent of people agreed with the statement, “using surge pricing to allocate transportation services — such as Uber does with its cars — raises consumer welfare through various potential channels, such as increasing the supply of those services, allocating them to people who desire them the most, and reducing search and queuing costs.”
Despite economists’ warnings, the New York City Council is comprised of 94 percent Democrats who don’t care much for the free market.
