September 5, 2026, (Inside AI) — Food delivery riders in Edinburgh are demanding that Deliveroo, Uber Eats, and Just Eat open up the algorithmic systems that decide their pay and job offers. They say increased automation has cut their earnings by half for the same hours worked.
David, a rider with seven years of experience who withheld his surname, said: "I am making half the money I was making four years ago, for the same amount of hours. It makes no sense."
The group has organized through the Workers' Observatory, a charity founded with academics from St Andrews and Edinburgh universities. It aims to help riders research the hidden parts of platform work and challenge working conditions.
Xabier Villares, lead organizer and an eight-year rider, said: "There has been a dramatic change in the last three years. I used to work four or five days a week, especially evenings and some lunchtimes, and was able to pay my rent and bills and make a decent living with that. But that's not an option any more."
The observatory has secured research funding for the next decade. It has run experiments on dynamic pricing, where algorithms vary pay based on real-time supply and demand. Unions are campaigning to ban the practice, arguing it leaves workers uncertain about earnings.
Research from the University of Oxford and Columbia Business School found that a dynamic pricing algorithm introduced in 2023 caused Uber drivers to earn substantially less per hour. This week, drivers from the UK, the Netherlands, and other countries filed a class action in Amsterdam against Uber. They claim the AI system breaches data protection laws and pushes down earnings based on what each driver is willing to accept.
Uber denies adjusting trip prices based on individual driver behavior. It attributes discrepancies to other features such as GPS. The legal case could run into billions of dollars.
Riders Document a Steady Decline in Per-Order Fees
Dylan, a Deliveroo rider in Scotland for over five years, has kept detailed records since mid-2023. His hourly order count stayed between 3.6 and 3.8. But the average fee per order fell from £3.67 in 2023 to £3.42 in the first half of 2026.
Dylan said: "I like to keep a close eye on everything, normally just to make paying my taxes easier. I started noticing a couple of years ago there was actually a big drop-off in my earnings. If you are doing the same amount of work, that equates to getting paid quite a lot less for the same work."
He also blames stacked orders, where riders accept two or three nearby deliveries but do not receive the same fees as separate trips. Dylan said: "Some of the offers they give you view you as a clown."
Deliveroo calls its algorithm Frank. The company has described it as "super smart" and able to decide "which rider to offer which order." Deliveroo said Frank uses machine learning to predict order timings and deliver food efficiently.
Rider Graeme Frances said platforms rely on opacity. He said: "You don't know what is in the black box of how they work out what to pay to whom."
Frances also faced log-on problems after a facial recognition check failed following an accident that left him with a black eye. He could not reach human support staff. Deliveroo said the failure was due to a blurry picture. Frances said he requested a manual review but did not know he had passed until he logged in again. Deliveroo said he could have worked after the manual review.
Platforms Defend Their Systems and Pay Rates
Deliveroo, Uber Eats, and Just Eat all say riders earn more than the national living wage while on an order. That figure excludes time waiting for job offers.
A Deliveroo spokesperson said: "Riders are guaranteed to earn a minimum hourly fee while on an order, which ... rose by 3.8% this year - an above inflation increase. The vast majority of riders are satisfied working with us, and we continue to partner with the GMB Union to raise the bar on security and wellbeing standards. Information on our algorithm and fees are set out on our rider website. We have a dedicated team in place to support riders, and any significant decision over a rider account is not automated, but reviewed by our team."
An Uber spokesperson said: "Our matching tools follow a process that balances a number of different factors, such as time and distance, to provide the best possible experience for everyone using the app."
A Just Eat spokesperson said: "As a delivery platform we use technology, overseen by a human team, to match deliveries with available couriers."
The Workers' Observatory has also tested collective action. In Dunfermline, Fife, riders logged on at the same time and rejected low-paying offers. Some saw short-term pay increases, while others were penalized. One rider was deactivated shortly after, though the reason was unclear. Gallagher called the outcome "seemingly arbitrary." Platforms insist riders are not deactivated for rejecting job offers.
Cailean Gallagher, observatory director and lecturer at St Andrews University Business School, said: "There is so much infrastructure of knowledge and data that's concealed. What we are trying to do with the observatory is to get on the ground floor in terms of understanding how the whole apparatus works."
The push for algorithmic transparency is gaining momentum. The Amsterdam class action could set a legal precedent for how AI-driven pay systems are regulated across Europe. For riders in Edinburgh, the fight is about reclaiming control over work that is increasingly governed by invisible rules.
