Senate Bill Seeks 15% Cap on Mexico App Commissions

A bill in Mexico's Senate proposes capping the commissions that ride-hailing and delivery platforms deduct from drivers and couriers at 15% of each transaction, amending Article 291-H of the Federal Labor Law. Current commissions range from 25% to 33% per trip, and some workers report income losses of up to 60%, adding pressure on platforms such as Uber, DiDi, Rappi, and Mercado Libre as Mexico's platform-labor framework continues to expand. The measure remains under committee review in the Senate. 

A bill introduced in Mexico's Senate proposes capping the commissions that ride-hailing and delivery platforms charge drivers and couriers at 15% of each transaction's total value. The initiative, presented by PAN Senator Agustín Dorantes, would amend Article 291-H of the Federal Labor Law (LFT) to limit deductions applied to workers who accept commission-based payment terms. Current commissions on ride-hailing and delivery apps range from 25% to 33% per trip or service, according to the initiative.

Dorantes says the proposal responds to what he describes as an economic imbalance between digital platforms and the workers who depend on them. "This initiative aims to correct an economic imbalance between digital platforms and users," Dorantes says in the proposal. The bill would require that any commission-based payment arrangement be set out in a labor contract authorized and registered with the Federal Center for Conciliation and Labor Registration, with platforms barred from withholding more than 15% of the total amount paid by each user. Dorantes says the goal is not to stigmatize platform companies but to draw attention to the financial strain that current commission levels place on drivers and couriers.

The bill responds to complaints from drivers who say commission deductions increasingly erode their earnings. Driver Emmanuel Chávez, whose own proposal inspired the initiative, told Dorantes that annual operating costs, an insurance policy for private passenger transport at MX$22,000 (US$1,257), maintenance services at MX$12,000 (US$686), tire replacement at MX$9,000 (US$514), and a mobile phone and data plan at MX$6,000 (US$343), can total up to MX$49,000 (US$2,800) a year. According to the initiative, workers can begin the year owing about MX$50,000 (US$2,857) just for the right to connect to a platform, an amount that can take three to four months of earnings to cover. The bill's supporting text argues that platforms retain up to 30% of a service's gross value while workers absorb the full cost of vehicles, insurance, and maintenance, leaving a narrow profit margin that undermines the right to dignified work.

The proposal arrives as Mexico continues to build out its platform labor framework under the 2024 reform to the Federal Labor Law, which created social security obligations for companies including Uber, DiDi, Rappi, and Mercado Libre. After a six-month pilot period, the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare (STPS) revised the exclusion factors used to calculate platform workers' net income, easing thresholds for drivers using four-wheeled and two-wheeled vehicles . Separately, 2026 marked the first year in which delivery drivers and couriers became eligible for Mandatory Profit Sharing (PTU) payments under the same reform, a milestone described as the first tangible financial outcome of the sector's formalization. Separate research presented at the Senate's Digital Rights Week 2026 by inDrive Mexico found that approximately 90% of platform workers' income in Mexico goes toward non-discretionary costs such as housing, food, and education, pointing to the broader financial fragility that commission-cap proponents cite.

Dorantes' initiative was presented during a session of the Permanent Commission of the Congress of the Union and was referred to the United Commissions of Labor and Social Welfare and of Legislative Studies, First, of the Senate, where it will be evaluated. The bill does not set a timeline for committee review or a floor vote. If approved, the measure would add a direct constraint on platform commission structures on top of the existing social security and income-calculation rules that already apply to Uber, DiDi, Rappi, and other digital platform operators in Mexico, a sector whose regulatory framework has evolved through successive adjustments since the original labor reform took effect.