Different Rights For Different Workers - Drivers And Riders Engaged Through Apps

I. Introduction

The so-called on demand economy, sharing economy or gig economy is based on digital platforms or apps that act as intermediaries between final customers and service providers.

A few examples on platform intermediation of on-demand work are Uber, Lyft, Cabify and Didi Chuxing, involving non-public transportation of people; Deliveroo, Glovo, Uber Eats, Take It Easy, Pedidos Ya and Meituan Dianping when it comes to food delivery services; Mechanical Turk and Upwork in the areas of occasional online micro-tasks; and Task Rabbit involving domestic tasks.²

The growth of "on demand economy" or "gig economy" has revealed the shortcomings of the worker-independent contractor dichotomy in addressing the new forms of work engaged through digital platforms. While it may be true that service providers work "at their own will" and "for whoever they want" (they may work for several platforms and accept or refuse orders), and that they frequently use this sort