The London-listed food delivery giant Deliveroo has terminated 105 workers for illegally sharing their rider accounts with undocumented migrants, the company informed MPs.
Deliveroo confirmed the dismissals amid growing government scrutiny over the presence of illegal migrants in its workforce. These individuals have gained access through the “substitutes” system, which allows registered riders to delegate work to others on their behalf.
The abuse of this system has intensified political pressure on platforms like Deliveroo, Just Eat, and Uber Eats, all of which were summoned to appear before the Commons Business and Trade Select Committee last month to address employment rights concerns.
Former immigration minister and current shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick previously criticized the substitute system, arguing that it fuels illegal immigration and poses risks to public safety due to insufficient right-to-work checks.
In response, Deliveroo and similar companies have tightened their controls to identify and remove unauthorized workers from their platforms.
Many delivery companies now require riders to periodically upload photos or videos—known as “selfie checks”—to verify that the person making deliveries is the registered account holder.
In a letter to the Business and Trade Select Committee last week, Paul Bedford, Deliveroo’s Director of Policy, stated: “We have off-boarded 105 Deliveroo riders since April 2024 due to their substitutes providing invalid right-to-work documents. To be clear, a substitute rider must have their right-to-work status verified before they can complete any orders with Deliveroo.”
According to Home Office data, two in five delivery riders stopped in random checks in April 2023 were found to be working illegally. In some instances, asylum seekers who had crossed the Channel were discovered earning up to £1,500 per month from food deliveries while residing in government-funded hotels.
Although the crackdown on illegal delivery riders was initiated under the previous Conservative government, Labour has since taken up the issue as part of its broader efforts to combat asylum-related exploitation.
In an effort to reassure the government, Deliveroo has provided Justin Madders, the Employment Rights Minister, with a dossier detailing its actions to tackle the problem. However, a Whitehall source indicated that the presence of illegal workers on delivery platforms remains an “area of concern.”
A Deliveroo spokesperson stated: “Deliveroo has led the industry in securing our platform against illegal working. We were the first to implement direct right-to-work checks, a structured registration process, daily identity verification, and additional device checks for riders, including substitutes.
We take our responsibilities extremely seriously and continue to strengthen our controls to prevent misuse of our platform. We urge the Government to ensure that all major platforms adopt the same high standards as a matter of urgency.”
