Cracking down on illegal deliver riders.

A large number of my residents have expresed concern that many delivery drivers may be working illegally. Their concern is somethign we must take seriously, as well as the multiple concerns around the behaviour of the riders in Romford.

Delivery drivers are often seen riding on pavements, taking illegal shortcuts, parking illegally, and so on. This isn't OK.

Another issue raised, by many, is that the driver often doesn't match the person in the image. I've had this myself and, whilst the delivery app allows me to select "driver doesn't match the image", I've never had a reply.

I have a record of taking action in this area. Before becoming a councillor I was campaigning for the riders by the station to be moved to a better area. They have, and are now down the side of the Atik instead. This makes the pavement easier to walk and allows stores like the Asda and hotel to get their deliveries.

I've also regularly flagged poor riding with the local police and also called on them to carry out action days of stopping riders, which we've seen in other areas and which resulted in bikes being confiscated.

I recently uncovered social media groups where people were renting out their Deliveroo account. So, I took action and I wrote to the head of Deliveroo. Their reply is below.

Reply from Deliveroo

PDF letter at the bottom of the page.

Dear Councillor Taylor,

Re: Accounts for sale

Thank you for your email to Will Shu on 21 June 2025. As Head of Public Affairs for the UK and Ireland, Will has asked me to reply on his behalf.

I want to explain how we work with riders, the rules around substitution in the UK, the steps we are taking to prevent illegal work through our platform, and how we promote safer riding.

We have investigated the screenshots you shared. I can confirm that all the substitute riders had registered with us, and had the right to work in the UK.

Working with Deliveroo

We work with around 70,000 self-employed riders in the UK. The right to substitute is an important part of self employment and not specific to Deliveroo - or even to the platform economy. However, substitutes must meet the same requirements - be over 18 years of age, have the right to work in the UK and the appropriate vehicle licenses and insurance.

Riders choose to substitute legitimately for a wide range of reasons - for example, a rider going on holiday who wants to lend their account to a housemate, or someone who wants to try out riding to see if they like it. In many areas, we are over-subscribed and run lengthy waiting lists, as we cap the number of new riders we onboard in any area to protect existing rider earnings.

Tackling illegal work

While renting an account is permitted, we are absolutely committed to preventing illegal working through the platform and to tackle the abuse of the right to substitute. In April 2024 Deliveroo launched industry-leading controls to register and check the right to work (RTW) status of substitute riders. We have been working closely with the Home Office on this and take a zero tolerance approach to abuse.

In addition to RTW checks, all main account holders and any substitute rider must now complete daily identity verification checks to make sure that they are the ones delivering orders. Riders are required to take a selfie to verify their identity in app. If the face does not match that of the account holder or their registered substitute, the account will be disabled pending further investigation. We also carry out device checks any time a rider logs into a new device, meaning that a check cannot be passed on one phone, with someone else then able to log on with their phone. We believe this is already having an impact on the secondary market for rented accounts.

We will continue to strengthen our controls to ensure we prevent any misuse of the platform.

Safer riding

I am sorry that your constituents have observed poor riding behaviour in their neighbourhood. We are fully committed to ensuring that the riders working with Deliveroo observe safe riding practices, both to protect their own safety and that of other road users.

Following all local traffic laws and road regulations (i.e. the Highway Code) and complying with safety standards is a condition of a rider’s service agreement. If we discover a rider is driving dangerously we will stop working with them immediately - whether they are a main account holder, or a substitute.

If you or any of your constituents observe an incident involving a suspected Deliveroo rider, it would be really helpful if they can share any details which might help us to identify the rider in question (for example, the type of bicycle, any physical characteristics of the rider and the time of the incident - ideally to the minute).

This means we can investigate as thoroughly as possible whether we have active Deliveroo riders in that specific area at the time in question, work to identify them and then take action as necessary. I should point out that even if a rider is using a Deliveroo branded kit, it does not mean they are working with us at the time, or indeed working with us at all.

If you or local residents wish to raise concerns directly with Deliveroo, you can do that through this online form which is quickly escalated to our rider services team to investigate.

Yours sincerely,

Jayne Almond

Head of Public Affairs, UK and Ireland

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2025.6.24 Cllr David Taylor, LB Havering pdf.pdf

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