The court of California granted Lyft and Uber and emergency stay. Both Lyft and Uber were ordered to employ their drivers instead of classifying them as “independent contractors.” However, Lyft still opted to temporarily end its ride-hailing services in California rather than go with the court’s order.
The company says that they didn’t want to do so because millions of people rely on Lyft ride-hailing services for their daily rides. Lyft confirms in a blog post that their services will be suspended from 20th August, 11:59 PT. However, Lyft’s bike and scooter services won’t be suspended in California. Along with these, its public transit navigation tool and car rentals would also be operational.
Similar to Lyft, Uber also stated that they would be suspending their ride-hailing operations in California by the end of the day. An Uber spokesperson said that the company had been an excellent support for people throughout the pandemic.
Lyft says that they don’t want to end their ride-hailing services and will continue to fight for a suitable benefit model that will work best for all of their drivers and riders.
