Deliveroo has rejected more than 100 riders as part of a continuous effort to tackle illegal immigration within its staff.
The food delivery giant confirmed to the MPs that 105 employees had been removed since April 2024 for illegal sharing of their accounts with migrants without papers. The company has confronted with increasing government supervision on the issue, with concern about the widespread abuse of the substitution system, so that riders can name others on their behalf.
In response to assembling political pressure, deliveryo and other gig -economy – giants – including normal food and Uber food – were instructed to strengthen employment controls. Many platforms now require that riders regularly submit selfie or video verification to ensure that the registered account holder is the one who completes deliveries.
Paul Bedford, Deputy Director of Policy, outlined the company’s performance in a letter to the Commons Business and Trade Select Committee, which states:
“We have since April 2024 105 Deliveroo riders off-boarded because of their substitutes who offer invalid right to work documents. To be clear, a replacement rider must have verified his straight-on status before they can complete orders with Deliveroo. “
The figures from the government suggest that 40% of the deliverers worked illegally during random checks in April 2023. Some asylum seekers who had crossed the channel turned out to earn up to £ 1500 a month from food supplies while they stayed in hotels funded by the government.
The issue of illegal working within the gig -economy has become a political flash point, in which both large parties are committed to combating exploitation.
Former Minister of Immigration Robert Jenrick previously accused the replacement system of feeding illegal immigration and the endangering of public safety due to lax right to work. Labor has since taken the initiative, in which Justin Madders, Minister of Work Rights, receives a file from Deliveroo who outlines his efforts to tackle the issue.
A Whitehall -Bron described the workforce of Leveroo as a ‘care area’ for the government, which continues to insist on stricter controls in the industry.
A Deliveroo spokesperson defended the actions of the company and said: “Deliveroo has led the industry to take action to protect our platform against illegal working. We were the first to roll out direct right-to-work checks, a registration process, daily identity verification and now extra device controls for riders, including replacements.
“We take our responsibilities extremely seriously and continue to strengthen our checks to prevent abuse of our platform. We would encourage the government to ensure that all important platforms urgently take the same standards. “
Because platforms of gig -economy are confronted with increasing control over employment practices, the efforts can be made to sharpen its verification systems a precedent for the industry. However, there are still concerns about the degree of illegal operation and / or further regulatory measures.