New Worker Info Exchange analysis of data from 78 Uber drivers in Liverpool, covering more than 1.4 million trips, reveals that the introduction of Uber's AI driven "dynamic pay" system has left drivers working harder, for much less pay.

• Uber driver real pay in Liverpool fell by 7.7% last year

• Driver commission payments to Uber in Liverpool increased from 25.6% of the fare to 30.4% last year

Uber driver pay is down but the commission they must pay to Uber is up:

The findings, published today by Worker Info Exchange (WIE), show that the average commission paid by drivers in Liverpool rose from 25.6% of fares in 2024 to 30.4% in 2025. The analysis also reveals that Uber charges its Liverpool drivers commission rates that vary greatly between drivers and between trips.

At the same time, average pay per hour for these Uber drivers fell by 7.7% in real terms between 2024 and 2025, after adjusting for inflation.

AI intensifies worker exploitation:

In recent years, Uber has gradually abandoned a pay setting model based on actual duration and distance of a trip in favour of hyper-variable pay determined in algorithmically in real time. In 2023, Uber also abandoned its fixed commission model of 25% and made commission setting also algorithmically determined with hyper-variability from driver to driver and trip to trip.

Drivers have increasingly reported that their pay has been reduced, work allocation has become less reliable, commissions have increased, and the entire settlement process has become more opaque and unpredictable.

These technology shifts are part of a global strategy which has driven spectacular financial results for Uber on Wall Street with profits doubling and the share price tripling since 2023.

Algorithmic Wage Discrimination & the right to know:

The use of AI in dynamic pay setting has opened the door to personalised pay and real time algorithmic wage discrimination. This report builds upon WIE’s ground breaking work in 2025 with Oxford University which exposed the unequal treatment of drivers exposed to hidden algorithmic management of this kind.

Under UK employment law, every worker has the right to understand the basis of how their pay is determined but with the method of algorithmic pay and work assignment largely hidden, Uber drivers have little means for holding Uber to account.

Collective legal action claims GDPR violations:

Worker Info Exchange is arranging a collective legal action in the Netherlands (Uber’s European HQ and from where Uber controls Liverpool Uber driver data), seeking an injunction and compensation for Uber drivers affected by the company's dynamic pay system. The claim argues that dynamic pay constitutes automated decision-making under Article 22 of the GDPR, the EU and UK data protection law that gives individuals the right not to be subject to decisions based solely on automated processing that significantly affects them. Many Liverpool drivers have already joined this collective action.

James Farrar, Director of Worker Info Exchange, says: "This new analysis confirms what Liverpool drivers have been saying for some time. That commission is creeping up, pay is slipping down, and the system is becoming more unpredictable and less transparent with drivers often left earning less than the national minimum wage.

Every worker in the UK has the absolute right to know the basis on which their pay is calculated and the right to protection from harmful AI driven automated decision making.

We say that Uber’s dynamic pay systems violate the rules and if Uber is allowed to continue to get away with this, such harmful practices will spread throughout the labour market with very serious implications for employment rights.”

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