On Tuesday 19 April, the Paris criminal court fined Deliveroo France 375,000 euros and gave two former managers of the platform a suspended sentence of twelve months in prison for concealed work. The fine and the sentence are in line with the requisitions of the prosecutor and the civil parties (more than 100 Deliveroo riders).
Deliveroo is responsible for organising a "systemic concealment" of jobs of riders who should have been employees and not self-employed workers. The fraud had no other aim for Deliveroo but making use of the labour of workers at the lowest cost and it was based on the primacy of the facts, regardless the willingness of the parties. The latter was one of the arguments used by Deliveroo, together with the narrative that they are a mere digital market connecting customers, restaurants, and delivery drivers, without any subordination. Deliveroo appealed.