Stay up to date with free updates
Just register Gig economy myFT Digest – delivered straight to your inbox.
Deliveroo, Just Eat Takeaway and Uber Eats have agreed to directly check the immigration status of all UK riders after coming under pressure from ministers to crack down on illegal work and exploitation in the industry.
The Home Office said on Tuesday that the three food delivery companies had committed to changing their processes to confirm that replacement drivers who share accounts with people hired directly by the groups also have the right to operate legally in the United States Kingdom to work.
Last year, ministers highlighted the food delivery sector as part of a wider initiative to reduce net immigration, which reached a record 745,000 in 2022.
Home Secretary James Cleverly said on Tuesday new visa application figures justify the policy changes he has made, with stricter rules for students leading to a “drastic” fall in the number of family members bringing with them.
The data also showed a sharp decline in caregiver visa applications. They have been unable to bring family members since March, but many who already work in the UK appear to have rushed to apply for family visas in the few months before the ban came into force.
In addition to stricter visa requirements, the Home Office has increased enforcement activities in areas where it believes visa abuse is occurring.
Robert Jenrick, the then immigration minister, wrote to the three food delivery companies in November, saying enforcement action had uncovered high levels of illegal work in the sector.
He blamed this on “business models that rely on individuals to self-verify a person’s right to work, allow for unverified account sharing, and are completely unacceptable.”
Deliveroo and its competitors allow self-employed drivers to hire others to do work for them. Drivers are responsible for ensuring that their deputies are over 18 years old, have the right to work in the UK and can do so safely.
This right to appoint a deputy has been recognized by British courts as an essential feature of self-employment and is helping Deliveroo fend off a legal challenge from the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain.
The UK Supreme Court ruled in November that Deliveroo drivers cannot be recognized as employees or represented by unions in collective bargaining.
But the practice of substitution has become increasingly controversial as online marketplaces have developed where drivers rent out accounts.
The practice came into the spotlight last year after reports of the death of a 17-year-old who was working on a rented Deliveroo account despite not being of legal age.
Michael Tomlinson, Minister for Illegal Migration, said: “Illegal work puts its clients at risk, depresses wages and cheats the taxpayer.”
Deliveroo said on Tuesday it was “committed to strengthening our controls to prevent misuse of our platform” after launching a new tool to register substitutes, including checking their right to work, earlier this month.
Uber Eats also said it planned to introduce identity checks, and Just Eat said it was working with industry and policymakers “to develop a solution that ensures couriers replacing their work do so in accordance with do according to the law.”
The IWGB union accused the government of scapegoating migrants with “false claims” that they were undercutting wages and endangering public safety. There are already “numerous layoffs of couriers who are authorized to work due to malfunctions in these controls.”