Para clears up how much gig workers actually make

The Future. A free app called Para is giving delivery drivers the tools and information to make the most money they can across multiple services… to the annoyance of those very services. With legislation already in the works that could further complicate the business plans of platforms like Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash, expect these companies to search for radical new revenue streams to actually make money.

Paycheck delivery

Although platforms like Uber and DoorDash insist that the average driver makes about $25-$30 per hour, one former Uber exec is giving drivers more transparency into how much they’re really getting paid.

• Para helps gig workers — especially rideshare and delivery drivers —  “juggle multiple apps, automatically decline low-paying gigs and flag rude customers and undesirable locations,” per NYT.
• It also gives drivers the ability to see the tip customers selected before they actually make the delivery — data that the services have but hide from the driver (except in NYC).
• The app also has an earnings tracker, so gig workers can easily view their total income across multiple apps.

Para, which already has 400,000 downloads, is free to use and recently raised $11 million.

Welcome to payroll

Para isn’t the first platform to put the power back in the hands of drivers — Mystro, Muver, Solo, and Gridwise, to name a few — but it has come the most under fire from delivery services due to its hidden tip feature. DoorDash continually changes its code to hide it from Para; Uber sent a cease and desist… both, among others, are now just giving in and adding transparency features to choke Para out.

But it’s not just Para and similar apps that rideshare and delivery platforms need to worry about — investors are demanding profits, drivers want more flexibility, and now the White House is proposing a rule that would classify more gig workers as employees… with all the benefits therein.

Sounds like a crash waiting to happen.