Deliveroo is pulling out of Australia.
The UK-based food delivery app have made the “difficult decision” to withdraw from Down Under - which first launched in 2015 - after facing increased competition from rival services like UberEats and Menulog.
Eric French, the service’s chief operating officer told investors: "This was a difficult decision and not one we have taken lightly. We want to thank all our employees, consumers, riders and restaurant and grocery partners who have been involved with the Australian operations over the past seven years."
"Our focus is now on making sure our employees, riders and partners are supported throughout this process."
They wanted to give customers "guaranteed enhanced severance payments for employees as well as compensation for riders and for certain restaurant partners."
The company has come under intense scrutiny for how they treat their 15,000 riders as employees instead of gig-economy workers.
During the height of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, food delivery apps saw a swell of favour but due to the easing of restrictions.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese ran on a platform of protecting worker’s rights during the recent general election.
Members of the Labor party - the party he leads - have referred to casual workers as a “cancer” as they believe it undercuts wages for millions of people.
Deliveroo’s Aussie exit comes as they decided last month they were going to ditch their operations in the Netherlands and their shares - which trade on the London Stock Exchange - dropped half of their value since the beginning of 2022.
