INSPECTORS ON THE GROUND: The 'fast delivery' business is booming, but the state and workers see no benefit!

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - The coronavirus pandemic has greatly changed people's lives. After full lockdowns were introduced worldwide in March last year, and people increasingly stayed at home, there was a growth in the trend of online ordering for restaurants and catering facilities, as well as shops.

Due to limited operations and bans on gatherings in catering facilities, many turned to food delivery, and a large number shopped for groceries, clothing, footwear, and other goods online.

For this reason, both worldwide and in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a series of food delivery applications and services have been launched, and stores have adapted their businesses to the new circumstances.

It is estimated that this is a business worth millions, but the question is how much benefit the state derives from it. Namely, an increasing number of people on bicycles, motorcycles, and cars delivering necessities is noticeable, however, according to Patria's findings, a small number of workers are registered. These are mostly jobs performed by young people who are satisfied with the fee they receive, while the owners of such services are earning more and more.

Caterers are constantly targeted by inspections due to undeclared work, issuing fiscal receipts, and everything they are legally obliged to implement, so there is growing dissatisfaction due to this situation.

The Cantonal Administration for Inspection Affairs of KS confirmed to Patria that labor, occupational safety, and social protection inspectors have carried out controls in these companies.

“Given that the head of the procedure in the case to which the inquiry relates is on annual leave, we can announce the details upon his return to work,” said KUIP.

The market in BiH is definitely oversaturated with currently four active portals, which are in principle the same, only offering different conditions to restaurants or customers (lower commissions, cheaper delivery prices, etc.).

As restaurant owners have announced before, they are often excited when they enter into cooperation with large online food ordering portals. This solves their problem of not being present in the online market and the lack of online ordering capabilities.

However, when they do the math, they quickly return to reality: a double-digit commission for every order that goes through their system.

However, BiH is not the only one facing problems due to this market situation. At the beginning of this year, the European Commission launched the first phase of consultation with European social partners on how to improve the working conditions of people working through digital labor platforms.

The start of the consultation coincided with a ruling from Milan, in which Italian courts ordered large food delivery companies to hire more than 60,000 delivery workers and pay more than 700 million euros in fines for failing to provide them with adequate working conditions.

Similar court proceedings have taken place in Spain, Switzerland, and Great Britain, and there are increasingly more rulings in which courts side with platform workers, mostly drivers and delivery personnel.

Because, according to Patria's findings, some of the employed workers are registered for only one or two hours a week, and no one has official data; many who work occasionally or permanently in this way are mostly paid in cash, and the volume of work and the length of the working day are dictated by algorithms that guide them from one location to another.

Therefore, BiH will also have to urgently resolve this problem, following the example of Western countries.