Govt announces new rules and standards for food delivery sector

The Gibraltar Government is introducing new rules aimed at improving standards in the growing food delivery sector and ensuring all drivers are legally employed.

The measures, which draw on input from officials at the Ministry for Transport and the Director of Employment, were set out during a press conference by Transport Minister Dr John Cortes and Stewart Harrison, the private secretary at the Ministry for Transport.

“There has been a concern about the regulation of delivery drivers and the proper registration to make sure that the service is a safe one, from both the point of view of road safety to insurance, to correct employment to food hygiene,” Dr Cortes said.

“So the Government has decided to take an initiative which will be in a phased way in order to allow the industry to migrate to the new arrangements so that we will not be left on Friday evening with no deliveries of food.”

And he added, tongue in cheek: “Because that would probably destabilise Gibraltar totally, but you know what I mean.”

While the comment was light-hearted, it underlined the growth of this sector in recent years, in part on the back of changing habits rooted in the Covid lockdowns.

“There are a lot of delivery drivers,” Dr Cortes said.

“It's a blossoming industry with lots of benefits for people, as we say, on Friday night or Saturday nights or any time.”

“But it can get out of hand and potentially, if people aren't properly trained on road safety, on food hygiene and not properly registered, then clearly that's something that the community doesn't want.”

“So we are doing this in a structured way so that at the end of the process we can be guaranteed that we have a really professional service which is something that the industry itself will want to be able to stand up and say, ‘look, all our drivers are registered, they've all got the green card’, even from a point of view of a competitive edge.”

The measures will be implemented in three phases, with a focus on employment conditions, road safety and food hygiene.

The first phase involves an information campaign in English and Spanish, followed by the introduction of a requirement for all food delivery companies to clearly display their corporate branding on both the delivery box and the uniforms worn by their drivers.

Each delivery driver will also be assigned a unique identification number to promote greater professionalism and accountability.

In addition, all food delivery drivers will be required to obtain a Delivery Driver Card.

This will be issued upon presentation of a valid work contract, photo identification and driving licence at the Customer Care Hub.

The purpose of this requirement is to establish a preliminary verification system to ensure drivers are legally employed and to support the enforcement of minimum standards across the sector.

Subsequent phases will focus on further professional development and the introduction of enhanced vehicle and food safety requirements.

Alongside these reforms, the Government will also be amending the current PLETs legislation to include thrust-controlled e-bikes, ensuring a more consistent and enforceable regulatory approach.

While these e-bikes can operate without the need for pedalling, they are currently classed as bicycles, which means riders do not even need to wear a helmet.

The new rules will class them under the same rules as e-scooters, introducing tighter restrictions on their use.

There will also be random roadside checks to ensure any of these e-bikes on the road have not be altered to reach higher speeds than the 25km per hour limit.

Enforcement of the new measures will be carried out by the Royal Gibraltar Police, labour inspectors, and transport inspectors.

An information and engagement campaign will begin immediately, with Fixed Penalty Notices and fines of up to £300 to be issued for non-compliance from September 2025.

Mr Harrison said the Government was allowing sufficient time for all companies and drivers to ensure they are able to meet the new requirements.

“We're not here to stop people from working but we are raising the standards in a controlled manner,” he said.

“The overall aim of it is to standardise both employment, food hygiene and road safety within the food delivery industry.”