Uber, Didi, Rappi: The Challenge of Labor Regulation

This Monday, June 23 (2025), the labor reform for digital application workers will come into force.

Labor relations in the food delivery and transportation industry will begin to be regulated.

180 days after the reform regulating app-based work was enacted, it will go into effect starting next week.

Although the pilot program will begin on July 1st.

Security, without losing flexibility

What is the government's objective with this labor reform?

The government's goal is for more than 650,000 workers to benefit from flexible employment and social security.

According to information released by Labor Secretary Marath Baruch Bolaños López, 272,000 platform workers earn incomes equal to or greater than the monthly minimum wage.

The data leads authorities to infer that this amount represents the number of people who rely on this sole income as their primary source of employment.

Following President Claudia Sheinbaum's instruction to seek the protection of workers' rights and around 30 meetings between the parties, the reform was finally approved and will take effect in the coming days.

What does the reform change?

The reform provides for the following applications in favor of workers: 1) access to social security, 2) compensation, 3) participation in the company's profits, 4) responsibilities on the part of the employer, 5) causes for termination, among others.

Contracts established by companies such as Uber, Didi, and Rappi must be registered with the federal conciliation center.

Uber, more dialogue; possible repercussions

Uber, one of the most recognized brands, recently expressed that it is essential to continue dialogue with the authorities.

He warned that the proposed implementation of the labor reform for people who work for app-based delivery or transportation companies would leave one in three drivers without income opportunities and would cause an estimated loss of 12 billion pesos in their income.

Uber is confident that through dialogue, a viable and successful implementation will be achieved, resulting in benefits for all users of Uber technology in Mexico.

That's the extent of Uber Mexico's positioning.

Around the world, there is a push to regulate the apps that revolutionized the world in terms of transportation and delivery logistics.

Digital applications, a success story

Digital applications have been a success story in Mexico and many other countries.

In Mexico, they started in 2012. Uber started in 2013. Rappi arrived in Mexico in 2015. Uber Eat started in 2016. Didi in 2019. Virtually all of them experienced a boom with the pandemic in 2020.

Food delivery platforms doubled their numbers between 2019 and 2022. They became a lifeline for thousands of restaurants and diners, primarily benefiting micro and small businesses.

By the end of 2024, the food delivery market in Mexico generated revenues of $2.53 billion, according to Statista Market Insights.

Directly and indirectly, digital delivery and transportation applications have supported employment in Mexico.

Both for the opportunity it offers to those with a vehicle and time who deliver food or transport passengers, and for the logistics that gave oxygen to thousands of businesses that were able to survive and continue to operate today through outsourced home delivery.

These types of services originated with a very simple vision: to provide a technological link between demand (for transportation or food delivery) and people who offer their vehicles and time for profit.

It's not a formal employment relationship. It's an alternative and, in many cases, an additional source of income for people.

This revolutionary deal shook up the formal labor market. Now, governments are seeking to regularize the agreement between the parties.

But it is clear that they should not, even if they can, fit them into traditional work patterns.

I hope government authorities understand this. I hope they act accordingly.