In Peru, the absence of a specific regulatory framework governing the provision of services through digital platforms persists. According to the report The Challenge of Regulating Platforms in Peru: Legislative Initiatives to Regulate Employment in Digital Taxi and Delivery Platforms between 2000 and 2021, produced by the Observatory of Digital Platforms–Peru, a total of 23 bills addressing this issue had been submitted as of June 2025. Of these, 17 were proposed between 2000 and 2021, while the remaining 6 emerged later, in response to the sector’s rapid growth and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
These legislative initiatives are grouped into six thematic areas:
The growth of app-based delivery and transport activities has taken place within a fragile institutional environment, characterised by labour informality, technological limitations, weak mechanisms of state oversight, and a fragmented legislative response. The widespread penetration of these platforms—particularly in urban areas such as Metropolitan Lima—has given rise to a category of workers exposed to flexible working conditions, variable incomes, long working hours, and significant physical risks. According to studies conducted by the Observatory of Digital Platforms–Peru, approximately 73% of delivery workers identify this activity as their main source of income (Dinegro, 2021), although this does not necessarily translate into stability or access to fundamental rights.
Various local governments attempted to fill this regulatory gap through municipal ordinances focused on the use of public space and road safety (2015–2021). However, these provisions lacked inter-institutional coordination and produced counterproductive effects, such as arbitrary enforcement, overlapping sanctions, and ineffective restrictions, ultimately hindering the implementation of a coherent public policy.
At the same time, the current transport regulations do not account for digital intermediation in the provision of passenger transport services, resulting in a sanctioning regime for drivers operating without formal authorisation. This regulatory omission highlights a mismatch between existing legislation and the technological transformation of urban services.
During 2024 and 2025, trade union organisations—such as SINTRAPLADI and OSCPA—were established, raising demands for inclusion in regulatory processes. However, some of their positions have revealed tensions with proposals aimed at enhancing traceability, safety, and oversight within the sector. One such example is Supreme Decree No. 006-2025-MTC, which mandates the use of vests with visible registration numbers and labelled delivery boxes, as well as enrolment in a national registry and the imposition of financial penalties. While these measures aim to enhance control and identification of actors in public spaces, they have been interpreted by some groups as a form of stigmatisation, illustrating the difficulty of establishing balanced regulations that simultaneously address public interest, citizen safety, and labour rights.
In this context, the first judicial case in the country recognising the existence of an employment relationship between a delivery worker and the company JOKR Peru S.A.C., resolved at the appellate level in January 2025, sets a significant precedent. The ruling incorporates concepts such as virtual subordination and algorithmic control—key elements for rethinking existing regulatory frameworks in light of new forms of work organisation mediated by digital platforms. This judgment not only has implications for future labour claims but also reshapes the regulatory debate regarding the boundaries between autonomy, dependence, and control within the platform economy.
The first judicial ruling:
The Seventh Labour Chamber of the Superior Court of Justice of Lima, through Resolution No. 10 (Case No. 21956-2022), upheld the reclassification of a civil service provision contract, declaring the existence of an open-ended employment relationship between the claimant and the company JOKR Peru S.A.C.
This means that:
Therefore, from a practical standpoint, this is a second-instance judgment with enforceable authority, marking the first Peruvian judicial precedent in matters related to the platform economy.
The Chamber based its decision on the principle of the primacy of reality, concluding that—despite the formal civil contract—there was clear evidence of labour subordination, such as the use of uniforms, daily operational coordination, and the absence of genuine economic autonomy.
The facts of the case:
The claimant worked as a delivery rider between August 2021 and November 2022. Although he had formally signed civil contracts, he alleged that his services were rendered under subordination, following schedules, wearing a uniform bearing the company’s logo, and receiving a fixed monthly payment. The company argued that it operated under an autonomous business model, whereby the delivery rider could choose when to log in, which orders to accept, and how to organise deliveries.
Among the most innovative aspects of the ruling was the recognition of new forms of subordination arising from the digital environment, including:
The Chamber held that these elements constitute a new type of subordination—virtual subordination—which goes beyond traditional indicators of employment and calls for labour law to adapt to technological and economic transformations.
The Chamber also identified key facts that corroborated the existence of dependence:
Ultimately, this ruling constitutes the first judicial decision in Peru to recognise the existence of an employment relationship within the context of the platform economy. It establishes jurisprudential criteria that broaden the understanding of subordination and lay the groundwork for future cases in this sector.
Impacts and challenges of the ruling
The political, social, and even academic debate surrounding the labour nature of the legal relationships established between delivery workers—commonly referred to as delivery riders—and digital platforms remains only incipiently developed in Peru. Once again, reality has outpaced the law, marking a turning point in the ongoing discussion.
The ruling issued by the Seventh Labour Chamber of the Superior Court of Justice of Lima constitutes an unprecedented judicial milestone, as it is the first decision in Peru to recognise the existence of an open-ended employment relationship between a digital platform worker and the company acting as an intermediary for their services.
This gives rise to a central question: What are the implications of this judgment?
Recognition of the employment relationship
Traditionally, the existence of an employment relationship has been determined by the presence of three essential elements: the personal provision of services, subordination, and remuneration. Within the framework of digital economies, the main legal controversy has centred on the notion of subordination, historically understood through a paradigm of work organisation characteristic of the post-industrial era. In this context, maintaining a static conception of the term—disconnected from contemporary technological and organisational transformations in the world of work—has become increasingly anachronistic.
Initially, service provision through digital platforms generated ambiguity regarding its legal classification, placing it in a grey area that challenged traditional regulatory frameworks. However, both labour law and comparative jurisprudence have shown a gradual evolution towards a functional reinterpretation of the elements that constitute an employment relationship.
In this regard, the recent judicial ruling recognising the existence of an employment relationship between a platform worker and an operating company marks a milestone that redefines the legal content of the concept of subordination. The decision acknowledges that in labour relations mediated by digital platforms, subordination may be exercised through technological mechanisms such as algorithmic control, traceability, task assignment, and automated performance evaluation. These mechanisms enable the employer to exercise a structured—albeit dematerialised—power of direction over the individual providing the service, thus demonstrating that technology does not eliminate subordination, but rather transforms it into new forms of functional and organisational dependence.
Determination of the applicable labour regime for digital platforms:
There is currently no specific legal regime or regulation governing the employment of delivery workers that responds to the particularities of their activity. Despite the submission of various bills and the establishment of Working Groups by the Ministry of Labour and Employment Promotion aimed at addressing the challenges of platform-based work in Peru, no consensus has been reached regarding its legal nature, nor the rules, principles, and procedures that should apply.
However, the legal vacuum in Peruvian legislation and the legislature’s inaction do not imply that the legal controversy regarding the applicable regime cannot be resolved. On the contrary, as reflected in the judgment, reference should be made to the labour regime for the private sector—the Labour Productivity and Competitiveness Act—as the general legal framework for employment relations, even if it does not fully address the specific characteristics of platform-based work.
Nonetheless, it would be inaccurate to consider that the dilemma has been entirely resolved. It remains necessary to establish minimum and maximum thresholds, and to define rules of both absolute and relative mandatory labour law (Neves, 2018)—to ensure both the continued development and technological innovation of digital platforms and the respect for and protection of the principles of decent work.
The role of the labour inspection authority:
Labour status has never depended solely on legislation, but rather on the nature of the relationship. Given that there is clear evidence of an employment relationship, the National Superintendence of Labour Inspection (SUNAFIL) is fully competent to verify compliance with socio-labour regulations—including occupational safety and health—pursuant to the General Labour Inspection Act. SUNAFIL may also provide guidance to labour stakeholders regarding the applicable legal standards.
However, this once again revives the underlying dilemma: which legal framework should be applied? While the ruling is limited to the specific case under the court’s review, it nevertheless offers a hint—the legislature’s inaction also constitutes a form of legal response. Labour inspection authorities would therefore have to refer to the rights, benefits, and obligations arising from the private-sector labour regime, with particular emphasis on the principle of the primacy of reality.
This could mark the beginning of a jurisprudential doctrine recognising the existence of employment relationships and applying the private-sector labour regime to workers in the platform economy. Important challenges still remain.
References:
NEVES, Javier (2018). Introduction to Labour Law, Fourth Edition. Lima: Editorial Fund of the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru.
DINEGRO, Alejandra (2021). Delivery and Employment: A Diagnosis of Working Conditions in Digital Platforms. The Case of Lima, Peru. Friedrich Ebert Foundation.
Authors:
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