Uber and Lyft will pay a combined $328 million to settle accusations they kept money that should have been paid to their for-hire drivers, officials said.

State Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement Thursday that Uber will pay $290 million and Lyft will pay $38 million into settlement funds that will be distributed to current and former drivers.

James had accused the companies of deducting sales taxes and black car fund fees from drivers’ payments when those taxes and fees should have been paid by passengers.

“Rideshare drivers work at all hours of the day and night to take people wherever they need to go,” James said in a statement. “For years, Uber and Lyft systemically cheated their drivers out of hundreds of millions of dollars in pay and benefits while they worked long hours in challenging conditions.”

As part of the settlement, Uber and Lyft will institute a minimum driver “earnings floor,” paid sick leave, and proper hiring and earnings notices.

"It feels great we will finally be appreciated for the work we have done,” said Steven Avenancio, an Uber driver in New York City. 

Lyft executive Jeremy Bird appeared to celebrate the settlement on the company’s blog in a statement, saying, “This is a win for drivers, and one we are proud to have achieved with the New York Attorney General’s Office. New York has long been a leader in providing drivers portable benefits through flexible earning opportunities with its Black Car Fund, and this agreement expands upon that foundation.”

Uber’s chief legal officer, Tony West, released a similar statement, which said, in part, “The agreement is a win for drivers across New York State who can now enjoy both the flexibility that is so important to them, while also having new benefits and protections like a minimum earnings standard and paid sick leave.”

Eligible drivers can file a claim to receive the funds they are owed. Information about claims can be found at the Attorney General's website at ag.ny.gov.

Uber and Lyft have become ubiquitous in New York in the last several years, with the easy to use ride-hailing apps largely supplanting the city’s iconic yellow taxi cabs. The companies have been slow to adjust to regulations that govern taxi services in cities such as New York and have balked at providing drivers basic labor protections and benefits.

New York was the first city in the country to establish a minimum wage for the app-based drivers, who have effectively been classified as independent contractors in a so-called gig economy. The city has also implemented a minimum wage for app-based food delivery services such as Uber Eats.

“We’ve waited eight long years to see justice for our members, a workforce that was cheated out of better living conditions, and timely meals and rest and leisure because the earnings that would have provided for that life were stolen by multi-billion dollar corporations,” New York Taxi Workers Alliance Executive Director Bhairavi Desai said in a statement.

James said the New York Taxi Workers Alliance brought the wage theft complaints to her office.

In California, a court in March ruled that ride-hailing and delivery companies like Uber and Lyft can continue to treat their California drivers as independent contractors, meaning they are not entitled to benefits like paid sick leave and unemployment insurance.