Rodeo, the app for delivery riders to track earnings across different delivery platforms, claims that Deliveroo has blocked its access to the platform.

“Independence when it works for their business is great,” Alfie Pearce-Higgins, co-founder of Rodeo, told the Financial Times (FT). “When riders exert that independence, taking control of their data or sharing with another service, it seems to be looked at slightly differently.”

Deliveroo signed a voluntary contract with the GMB Union last May, which classified its riders as independent contractors.

A Deliveroo spokesperson told the FT that while it supports Rodeo’s objectives of supporting riders and providing insights into how they work, Rodeo and its partner Argyle “accessed Deliveroo’s rider app without authorisation”.

They continued: “Our concerns have been communicated to Rodeo and, despite this, they have continued to attempt to gain unauthorised access.”

Deliveroo said that a security update has since prevented Rodeo from accessing fee data on its rider app.

The news follows Deliveroo cutting around nine per cent of its workforce as cash-strapped consumers order less takeaways during the cost-of-living crisis.

Deliveroo chief executive Will Shu said the soaring inflation, rising interest rates, an energy crisis and fears of a recession in the UK had prompted it to take a “hard look” at its cost base.

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