Deliveroo and Just Eat urged to close 'loophole' that 'lets kids work'

14 November 2023 , 13:42

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Just Eat and Deliveroo have been told to urgently change their policies (Image: Getty Images)

Teenagers have managed to find a loophole to secure illegal jobs with food delivery apps, an investigation has found.

Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats are being urged to give their policies a major reform due to workers being able to lend their accounts to others, who haven't been verified as ok to work.

The BBC discovered that social media users are selling or renting their accounts online, and reported that boy, aged 17, tragically died while working as a Deliveroo rider.

It has been reported that self-employed couriers can get people to carry out their deliveries as a "substitute" for them. Under the current rules, it isn't the apps responsibility to conduct verification for subsitutes. However, this allegedly enables children to take on work, despite 18 being listed as the minimum age.

Uber Eats said they are working closely with the government on the issue (Getty Images)

Immigration minister Robert Jenrick, who is chairing a meeting with representatives of the three firms on Tuesday morning, said the policy of substitution was "perpetuating and enabling illegal working in our country". Mr Jenrick told the BBC: "This is not a victimless activity, we've seen a young person die when he was doing a job that he shouldn't have been doing." He called for reforms so that substitute riders would also be verified by the apps, not by the account holder. All three apps said riders must pass background checks and have the right to work in the UK, adding they remove couriers who cannot lawfully do so.

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A Deliveroo spokesperson said: "We take our responsibilities extremely seriously. We have introduced facial recognition technology and we continue to work in close collaboration with the relevant authorities to support their efforts in this area." An Uber Eats spokesperson said: "We understand that there are concerns around this issue, and we are working closely with the Government and want to find a solution." A Just Eat spokesperson said: "We have high standards and a robust criteria in place for couriers delivering on behalf of Just Eat."

Monica Charsley