Are food delivery couriers in Latvia working legally and paying taxes in full? These questions have come to the forefront of the parliamentary investigation commission amid growing public discontent.
On Monday, representatives from TV3 News reported back.
There is discontent in parts of society regarding the work of couriers — especially concerning those from third countries. Residents accuse them of potential tax evasion, unfair competition, and identity misuse.
Complaints about ignoring traffic rules and low-quality services are also voiced on social media, raising the question — how transparent and regulated is this rapidly growing industry?
The Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs (OCMA) reports that at the beginning of this year, 15,700 individuals with valid work permits were registered in Latvia, whose purpose of entry was work. Most are employed in the transport sector and work as truck drivers. Food delivery couriers are required to register in the database of the Food and Veterinary Service (FVS), where 8,000 couriers are registered. Thus, nearly half of all foreigners work in this sector.
Representatives of food delivery platforms claim they can monitor couriers — if someone is caught committing fraud, contracts are terminated. The police also note that most foreigners are law-abiding, and violations are rare.
"There are a few cases a year where such couriers use someone else's driver's license, thereby concealing their identity. This is not common, but such cases do exist," confirmed State Police representative Juris Jančevskis.
In one of the market leaders, "Bolt," about 3,000 couriers are actively working, said the company's representative Janis Rimicāns, who was invited to the commission. He expressed confidence that the platform can verify the legality of couriers' stay in Latvia: "We see from the data that half of the couriers are Latvian citizens, the rest are citizens of various countries."
In response to a question from National Alliance MP Janis Dombrova about whether "Bolt" is responsible for cases of identity theft, Rimicāns explained:
"We are a technology company, and we can consider each case separately. Regarding identity — we check during registration, we can require re-verification, technically this can be ensured."
Meanwhile, on the "Wolt" platform, the number of active partner couriers over the past year was about 2,000 per month. Last week, when the most recent data was collected, their number reached 3,900.
"Wolt does not discriminate against people based on any criteria — nationality, citizenship, country of origin. The company is open to cooperation with anyone who has the legal right to be in the country and conduct economic activities," states Wolt Latvia representative Jana Jahvarova.
About 40% of "Wolt" couriers are Latvian citizens, while the rest are representatives of other countries. "The largest share consists of citizens of India, followed by Sri Lanka, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, and then Azerbaijan, Turkey, Ukraine," Jahvarova said.
Considering that couriers are self-employed, tax payment depends on their own honesty. The State Revenue Service (SRS) explains that most pay as required, but there are those who ignore obligations, accumulate debts, and disappear. When it comes to citizens of third countries, such as India, collecting debts from them is practically impossible.
"The tax that such a courier must pay per year amounts to several thousand euros. The SRS cannot calculate and collect this tax from each individual separately, as this does not correspond to our costs," emphasized the director of the SRS Tax Discipline Support Department, Santa Garanča.
The parliamentary commission meeting took place in a calm atmosphere — although such discussions usually involve sharp debates, this time, there was no confrontation during the hearing of officials.
