Migrant delivery drivers flouting law booted off Deliveroo, Uber Eats and Just Eat

Food delivery firms have banned hundreds of riders from their platforms as part of a crackdown on illegal working. Deliveroo, Uber Eats and Just Eat's 90-day deadline to increase the use of facial verification checks and fraud detection technology ended on Sunday.

The firms are understood to have identified a range of compliance failures among scores of people previously being paid to deliver food to Britons' doors every day. A spokeswoman for Deliveroo said: "Over the last 90 days, we have further strengthened our verification process, increasing the frequency of our checks. We have also introduced randomised checks to ensure the platform is more secure.

"While these measures represent a significant step forward, we will continue to invest and innovate to prevent the exploitation of the platform by a small minority of determined criminals."

The firms held a roundtable with the Home Office at the end of June, where they agreed to introduce extra measures and create an enhanced industry-wide standard for security checks.

These were aimed at stopping delivery riders sharing their accounts with migrants who do not have the right to work in the UK.

Asylum seekers are not allowed to work for the first 12 months of being in the UK, or until their asylum application is approved.

But some migrants in asylum hotels had been earning money on the apps.

Uber Eats and Deliveroo had pledged to increase the quantity and sophistication of verification checks they already had, while Just Eat said it would carry out checks on a daily rather than a monthly basis.

Deliveroo is among the firms that have removed and banned hundreds of riders over the last three months, it is understood.

It has designed a new tool that detects if a rider is trying to re-onboard with them after breaching their contract, the Express understands. This works by creating a "strong match" to previously used documents.

Enhancements on device identification, account changes and facial recognition are also said to be in place.

A spokeswoman insisted it is committed to developing further measures as determined criminals continue to find new ways to exploit delivery platforms.

Meanwhile, Just Eat said it has introduced facial recognition checks for delivery drivers each time they complete an order.

A spokeswoman for the firm said: "Just Eat is fully committed to tackling all attempts to work illegally via our platform - all couriers must have the right to work in the UK.

"Over the summer, we have substantially strengthened our systems against abuse, including introducing daily facial recognition checks for couriers every single time they complete a run.

"We have invested significant resources to make a number of major upgrades to our app and meet the commitments agreed.

"We continue to work closely with the Home Office and industry partners to identify and address any potential methods of evading checks, as well as collaborating on data sharing and enforcement."

An Uber Eats spokeswoman said: "Uber Eats is deeply committed to tackling illegal work and the criminal networks who are often behind it.

"This includes introducing industry-leading identity and video verification technology to combat illegal work. We are continually improving our processes to prevent abuse of the platform and working closely with the Government on this issue."

The firm has daily real-time facial verification checks, which are randomly scheduled, as well as a number of additional confidential and proprietary tools that help them detect attempts to bypass checks.

The Home Office has been contacted for comment.