The UK’s leading food delivery platforms—Deliveroo, Uber Eats and Just Eat—will tighten their verification procedures over the next 90 days in response to concerns about illegal working on their services.
Ministers recently met with these companies after reports suggested some asylum seekers were operating delivery accounts without lawful work status.
Under the new measures, all platforms will increase the use of facial recognition and fraud-detection technology to ensure only registered account holders can complete deliveries. In particular, Just Eat will shift from monthly to daily facial verification checks.
Home Office ministers, including Border Security Minister Dame Angela Eagle and Employment Rights Minister Justin Madders, emphasised the need to tackle illegal working, warning that it undermines legitimate businesses and depresses wages.
Spokespersons for each company reaffirmed their commitment to remaining vigilant, investing in improved detection tools and working closely with the Home Office. Deliveroo described its approach as “zero‑tolerance”, while Uber Eats and Just Eat pledged to invest further in safeguarding platform integrity.
The new industry-wide standard follows widespread investigations revealing that some migrants were quickly accessing delivery platforms from asylum accommodation via shared or rented accounts.
