Jessica O'ConnorThe Government has announced a new agreement with major food delivery companies to step up enforcement against illegal working in the gig economy.
Under the arrangement, Deliveroo, Just Eat, and Uber Eats will gain access to additional data — including the locations of asylum hotels — to help identify and suspend delivery riders found to be sharing accounts with migrants who have no legal right to work in the country.
The move expands on existing security measures already in place, under which riders found sharing their accounts with unauthorised workers face suspension.
The new agreement aims to give firms more tools to detect patterns of misuse and unauthorised account sharing, enabling quicker action against violations.
Efforts by the delivery companies to tighten their systems have reportedly led to thousands of workers being removed from their platforms.
These measures have included real-time identity verification and Right to Work checks. Despite those steps, officials say abuse of the system remains a persistent issue.
The enhanced measures follow a roundtable discussion chaired by government ministers last month. Firms have now committed to implementing additional tools such as increased facial verification and more advanced fraud detection.
According to the Home Office, these efforts are part of a broader strategy to target what it calls “illegal working hotspots” and tackle exploitation within the gig economy.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper stated: “Illegal working undermines honest business, exploits vulnerable individuals and fuels organised immigration crime.
“By enhancing our data sharing with delivery companies, we are taking decisive action to close loopholes and increase enforcement.”
Eddy Montgomery, director of enforcement, compliance and crime at the Home Office, said: “This next step of co-ordinated working with delivery firms will help us target those who seek to work illegally in the gig economy and exploit their status in the UK.
“My teams will continue to carry out increased enforcement activity across the UK and I welcome this additional tool to disrupt and stop the abuse of our immigration system.”
The delivery companies have also expressed support for the collaboration.
A spokesperson for Deliveroo said: “Deliveroo has led the sector in introducing security measures to prevent the abuse of our platform and tackle the sophisticated criminals seeking new ways to exploit all delivery platforms’ systems.
“We are fully committed to working with the government as we continue to collectively combat illegal working.”
Just Eat added: “Just Eat is committed to tackling any illegal working via our platform. We continue to invest significant resources to strengthen our systems against abuse by individuals and organised criminal groups seeking to evade right to work rules.
“We are working closely with the Home Office and our industry partners to address any loopholes in the industry’s checks, as well as collaborating on data sharing and enforcement.”
An Uber Eats spokesperson stated: “Uber Eats is fully committed to tackling illegal work and will continue to work with the Home Office and industry. We have introduced a range of state of the art detection tools to find and remove fraudulent accounts.
“We are constantly reviewing our tools and finding new ways to detect and take action on people who are trying to work illegally.”
