A prosecutor in Milan has ordered the Italian subsidiary of Deliveroo to be placed under court administration, accusing the food delivery service of exploiting its workers.
The measure signed Monday, and simultaneous naming of a judicial administrator, comes two weeks after the same prosecutor, Paolo Storari, similarly ordered the Italian unit of competitor Glovo to be placed under court administration for underpaying its workers.
The approximately 23,000 Deliveroo riders in Italy were paid wages “that in some cases were up to 90 percent below the poverty line and collective bargaining agreements”, read the court document viewed by AFP.
Prosecutors said the “genuine labour exploitation” went on for years at Deliveroo Italy, which is based in Milan.
Owned by DoorDash, Deliveroo is one of several food delivery companies operating in Italy.
“Deliveroo is reviewing the documentation received from the authorities and the company is cooperating with the investigation,” the company said in a statement to AFP.
More than 50 Deliveroo riders, mostly foreign nationals, submitted declarations to prosecutors, saying they earned between about 3 euros to 5 euros per delivery, depending on distance.
“A substantial prevalence emerges of riders who earn despite stating that they work a number of hours significantly higher than the normal weekly schedule an annual net income below the poverty line,” prosecutors found.
Last week, the Milan tribunal ordered Glovo’s Italian unit Foodinho to regularise its 40,000 riders, after it had earlier been placed under judicial administration.
That investigation found that many riders were paid on average about 2.50 euros per delivery.
In 2021, Italian courts ordered Glovo, Uber Eats, Deliveroo and Just Eat to regularise the situation of 60,000 delivery drivers and riders and pay substantial fines.
There have been similar cases in other European countries.
In 2024, the European Union adopted a directive requiring member states to classify people who work for online platforms as employees, under certain conditions.
But the bloc left it up to each state to decide what criteria must be met.
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