Deliveroo primes drivers to photograph restaurant menus amid price row
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Deliveroo is considering asking its delivery drivers to photograph restaurant menus on collection amid fears eateries are charging customers too much for takeaways.
The food delivery company recently updated its policy to state that riders may be required to capture “a requested image, such as a restaurant menu, while attending a partner location”.
The updated terms, first reported by The Grocer, said delivery drivers could be paid for providing the images if they were of suitable quality.
However, Deliveroo said the change gave it the option of requesting images in future, as it stressed that riders were not currently being asked to photograph restaurant menus.
Yet the groundwork for such a policy comes amid growing scrutiny of restaurants and supermarkets that are allegedly increasing prices for items sold on Deliveroo or other platforms.
Figures from consumer watchdog Which? have suggested that ordering via food delivery apps could be as much as 44pc more expensive than ordering directly with restaurants.
A separate study by the watchdog last year found that consumers could be paying double the cost for their groceries if they bought on delivery apps rather than in stores.
This excluded delivery fees, with the price of items such as butter being 45pc higher on the apps.
Deliveroo said at the time: “The prices for grocery items available on the Deliveroo platform are set by our grocery partners.”
The delivery app has, however, said it was aware that customers were “particularly sensitive to menu items that are more expensive on Deliveroo than in the restaurant”.
Earlier this month, it said it would be taking action on restaurants that failed to provide good value for money.
Deliveroo has already brought in a system to monitor prices in restaurants and supermarkets compared to its app, including checking prices in stores and online.
This allows it to have price mark-up data that ranks restaurants every month.
Those with the best value scores are given better placement on the app, meaning they appear quicker for customers when they are searching through options.
Restaurants that consistently score badly for value are given warnings and if they continue to set prices higher, they can be suspended from the app.
If restaurants disagree with the price mark-up data and believe they do not represent their prices for dining in, they are told to contact Deliveroo to resolve the issue.
A Deliveroo spokesman said there are currently “no plans to ask riders to photograph menus”.