Uber Eats employees pose a serious safety risk to New Yorkers by letting unvetted drivers, especially newly arrived immigrants, rent and borrow real accounts that give them access to customers’ homes. claims.
John Gray, who has worked as an Uber Eats delivery driver in New York for five years, said the platform’s delivery drivers do not provide identification or undergo criminal background checks, the Post reported. He said he doesn’t even operate under his real name. It may cause a disaster.
“Illegal labor using rented delivery apps is a serious safety issue when we enter people’s homes,” Gray said.
“In a walk-up building, you basically ring the intercom from outside, ring the door, and walk in. It’s the walk-up buildings that I feel have the biggest security gaps.”
Delivery drivers make three to five deliveries per hour, which means they can enter up to 60 homes a day during a 12-hour shift, and deliveries are made late at night and often in the morning. It added that the event will continue until after 3 p.m.
Gray’s concerns stem from the Post’s exposure of a black market that has sprung up for Uber delivery brokers, who primarily target new immigrants who enter the country penniless and without work permits in search of a cut of their income. arose later.
Three migrants interviewed last week said they set up Uber accounts using other people’s details, and two admitted to paying others for the privilege of using their profiles. Ta. The same goes for other food delivery services like Doordash and his GrubHub.
Uber requires new employees to present several forms of identification as part of the onboarding process and undergo annual criminal background checks.
“All delivery drivers using the Uber Eats app must pass a criminal background check, be at least 18 years old, and have valid work rights.
“Couriers that do not meet these standards, including regular identity verification checks that require couriers to take a selfie to confirm their identity, will no longer be able to partner with Uber Eats,” said Josh Gold, a company spokesperson. Stated.
But Gray, who has made more than 4,000 deliveries for Uber since 2018 and has a 92% profile satisfaction rating, says that if you check in often, you can easily “do away with this illegal job tomorrow.” claims.
“[Uber Eats] We use facial recognition to perform random security checks…approximately once a week. It only takes 10 seconds.
“The app will freeze your account and ask you to take and send a selfie. It will use facial recognition to match it in real time to the photo you used to register. After facial recognition, your account will be unlocked. will be done.
“If Uber Eats strengthened its security checks every hour, illegal activities would stop.” [because] Unregistered workers have to stop working and corner registered users, making it impractical to work.
“It’s just a simple change in app settings,” he added.
Food delivery apps are a significant growing business in New York, generating $217.6 billion in revenue last year, compared to $91.4 billion in 2019, according to business data platform Statista.
Uber said it is currently working on strengthening security.
“We have made it clear that account sharing is never allowed, and it is inaccurate to say that the company is not doing anything to address these issues. We take these issues seriously. “We have begun a new audit of accounts for fraudulent activity in response to recent reports,” said Josh Gold, a company spokesperson.
Even though New York City is the largest market for DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub, the companies do not release revenue by state.
In July, the city passed a bill raising the minimum wage for app-based delivery workers to $17.96 an hour, not including tips. The companies have sued the city, but it has not yet taken effect.
Meanwhile, newcomers are taking jobs that veteran workers are turning down, jobs that pay a base wage of just $2.60 for trips that can take more than 20 minutes, people told the Post.
Gray, who uses his bicycle to make deliveries, said his income from the app has been affected over the past six months as he has seen fewer jobs on the app and lower wages.
However, he added that delivery is just a side job because he has office work to do on weekdays.
