Earnings commitment
Lyft's earnings commitment guarantees that a driver's weekly earnings will be at least 70% of passenger payments after external fees. If a driver's earnings are below 70% when the week ends, they’ll get paid an earnings adjustment to make up the difference. Earnings Commitment is available in most major cities, with plans to expand soon.
Using the Earnings Commitment tracker, you can track the earnings commitment as soon as you give your first ride of the week. To track the earnings commitment:
- Go to your earnings in the Driver app.
- Tap 'See weekly breakdown.'
- Tap the earnings commitment banner at the bottom of the weekly breakdown.
The Earnings Commitment tracker will display passenger payments after external fees, your earnings, and the estimated Lyft fee. These amounts will continue to be updated following each ride you give throughout the week.
For more information about passenger payments, external fees, and Lyft fees, see the 'What is Lyft’s Earnings Commitment' section below.
Skip to:
What is Lyft's Earnings Commitment?
On a weekly basis, drivers will earn 70% or more of passenger payments after external fees are deducted. This is the minimum drivers should expect to earn.
- Passenger payments is the amount passengers pay for their ride. Passenger payments go toward more than just driver earnings and Lyft's fees; they also cover external fees, including commercial auto insurance coverage and taxes.
- External fees include commercial auto insurance coverage, taxes, government fees, and other expenses such as payment processing fees.
- Lyft’s fee is the amount retained by Lyft and is used to maintain the platform. Part of Lyft's fee is invested in drivers and app improvements that improve their experience with Lyft.
- Eligible earnings for the earnings commitment include base ride earnings and bonuses. Tips, benefits, and pass-throughs are not included in the earnings commitment.
Note: To learn more about external fees, see the 'External Fees' section below.
Why is the earnings commitment 70%?
After receiving feedback from drivers, Lyft set the 70% earnings minimum. After external fees are deducted from passenger payments, the driver's share is at least 70% each week.
Note: Drivers will always receive 100% of tips, adjustments, benefits, and tolls, as they aren't subject to external fees or Lyft's fee.
Earnings adjustments
When will I receive my adjustment?
The Lyft week runs from Monday to the following Monday at 5 AM. If by the end of the Lyft week, you haven't earned at least 70% of passenger payments after external fees, the Earnings Commitment Tracker will display your final earnings percentage for the week and the date you can expect to receive an earnings commitment adjustment.
Will I ever receive an extra adjustment?
You may receive an additional adjustment due to the distribution of certain expenses, like insurance costs, which take longer to finalize.
If it applies to you, an extra adjustment will appear in your earnings tab.
External fees
What are the types of external fees?
Examples of external fees include commercial auto insurance coverage, taxes, government fees, and other expenses such as payment processing fees.
- Commercial auto insurance: Lyft maintains commercial auto insurance coverage on behalf of drivers. The policies include $1 million or more in liability coverage for most accidents that occur while you're driving passengers. This is in addition to your personal insurance requirements, which typically does not cover accidents while you're driving with Lyft.
- Taxes and government fees: fees imposed by federal, state, and local governments to operate the Lyft rideshare platform. An example includes state and local sales taxes imposed on rides.
- Other expenses: These are payments to third parties for ride-related expenses, such as payment processing fees.
How are external fees calculated?
External fees may vary because the types of rides you provide vary.
For example, insurance and other expenses are based on internally forecasted data and are finalized at the end of each quarter. They're calculated for your online time, when you're online waiting for rides, and are also distributed to each ride you give, according to the number of miles driven, region, ride type, rental status, and/or passenger payment.
General earnings questions
Does this impact the schedule on which I'm paid?
This will not impact your pay schedule.