A prosecutor in Milan has ordered Deliveroo’s Italian unit to be placed under court administration, accusing the food delivery service of exploiting its workers.
The same prosecutor, Paolo Storari, who two weeks ago also ordered the Italian subsidiary of rival Glovo to be placed under court administration for underpaying workers, signed the measure on Monday, along with the appointment of a judicial administrator.
Court documents seen by AFP show that around 23,000 Deliveroo riders in Italy are paid “in some cases 90% below the poverty line and collective bargaining agreements”.
Prosecutors said “genuine labor exploitation” at Milan-based Deliveroo Italy had gone on for years.
Deliveroo, part of DoorDash, is one of several food delivery companies operating in Italy.
“Deliveroo is reviewing the documents it received from the authorities and is cooperating with the investigation,” the company said in a statement to AFP.
More than 50 Deliveroo riders, mostly foreigners, submitted statements to prosecutors saying they earned around 3 to 5 euros per delivery, depending on the distance.
Prosecutors found: “A substantial number of riders were paid despite claiming to have worked significantly more hours than a normal work week and had an annual net income below the poverty line.”
Last week, a Milan court ordered Glovo’s Italian subsidiary Foodinho to regularize its 40,000 riders, after the company had earlier been placed under judicial administration.
The survey found that many riders were paid an average of around €2.50 per delivery.
In 2021, Italian courts ordered Glovo, Uber Eats, Deliveroo and Just Eat to regulate the situation of 60,000 delivery drivers and riders and pay huge fines.
Similar cases have occurred in other European countries.
In 2024, the European Union passed a directive requiring member states to classify online platform workers as employees under certain conditions.
But the EU leaves it to each state to decide for itself which criteria must be met.
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This article was generated from automated news agency feeds without modifications to the text.
