DoorDash may stop skimming tips after consumer outrage

Food delivery service DoorDash came under fire in recent months for its practice of skimming tips from independent-contractor delivery drivers, a practice it may now change according to statements from the CEO.

The service operates through an app which guarantees drivers a specific payment amount for each delivery, depending on region, driving distance, and other factors. On the customer end, a delivery fee is applied atop the cost of whatever food they ordered, but there is also an option to tip.

However, DoorDash would not pay those tips to the drivers, instead applying them as “credit” toward the payment the driver was already guaranteed, effectively taking the entire tip amount for the company with no indication to the customer.

Now, after the company has been facing significant backlash over this practice, CEO Tony Xu announced on Twitter that DoorDash will change to a new model that “will ensure that Dashers’ earnings will increase by the exact amount a customer tips on every order.”

The announcement has been faced with skepticism, however, as it brushed over the actual issue of tips being diverted to instead focus on Dashers overall earnings, leading some in the DoorDash community to question whether they would simply receive less pay overall.