On January 6, 2026, Taiwan's Legislative Yuan (立法院) passed the Delivery Worker Rights Protection and Delivery Platform Management Act (外送員權益保障及外送平臺管理法, hereinafter “the Act”). The Act, which will take effect on July 21, 2026, imposes a number of new requirements on delivery platforms that regulate the rights and interests of delivery workers, consumers, and merchants.
- Delivery Workers
Article 5 of the Act provides that minimum hourly renumeration of delivery workers shall not be less than NT$45 (approx. US$ 1.41) and 1.25 times the hourly minimum wage (currently NT$196 or approx.\. US$ 6.13) calculated proportionally from order acceptance to completion. Platforms must pay remuneration in full at least twice a month to the delivery worker directly and are required to disclose clear and verifiable details of delivery worker remuneration.
To ensure the fairness and reasonableness of contracts, Article 4 of the Act authorizes the Ministry of Labor (勞動部, hereinafter “MOL”) to issue delivery worker standard contracts. These are a type of standard contract that impose certain mandatory terms and prohibit others (外送服務定型化契約應記載及不得記載事項) Delivery platform operators and delivery workers will be required to enter into the MOL standard contracts. Any non-standard contracts will \ be invalid. Meanwhile, delivery platform operators are prohibited from arbitrarily adding or amending key rights and obligations clauses in delivery service contracts, nor can they force delivery workers to agree to such changes through announcements or coercion. Delivery platform operators shall provide written or e-version delivery service contracts to delivery workers within seven days of entering into a delivery service contract with a delivery worker.
To strengthen the protection of delivery workers' rights, Articles 7 and 8 of the Act specifies the grounds for unilateral termination of delivery service contracts. Article 7 provides for a limited number of grounds that permit a delivery platform operator to terminate a delivery service contract (e.g. a delivery worker violates the listed laws and regulations or the delivery service contract during the provision of delivery services, and the circumstances are serious. ) while Article 8 provide the grounds for termination by workers (e.g. a delivery platform operator violates the delivery service contract, this Act, or other laws and regulations, thereby potentially harming the rights and interests of a delivery worker.). In addition, when a delivery platform operator terminates a delivery service contract or make other adverse decisions against a delivery worker, the operator is required to provide reasons with supporting evidence and an opportunity for the delivery worker to appeal (申訴). For this purpose, delivery platform operators to set up an independent team to provide delivery workers with channels for appeal and redress for disputes over contract termination.
To strengthen occupational safety and insurance rights, Article 10 of the Act stipulates that delivery platform operators shall insure delivery workers with group injury insurance and liability insurance and pay premiums for occupational injury insurance. Article 15 of the Act requires operators to cease operations and refrain from dispatching orders and making deliveries when workers are in area affected by natural disasters and declared closed by the government.
Furthermore, Article 20 of the Act mandates that delivery platform operators maintain records related to delivery service contract, delivery service period, online period, training, and other information related to delivery workers for at least 2 years. Article 21 of the Act stipulates that, in the event of a major occupational accident, operators must immediately notify labor inspection agencies within eight hours and promptly conduct an accident investigation to reduce the risks associated with delivery operations.
- Consumers’ Rights
This Act also emphasizes consumer protection, which is safeguarded by information transparency, transaction security, and dispute resolution.
Article 13 of the Act requires the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (交通部) to issue standardized consumer contracts specifying what terms must be included and prohibiting others (消費者定型化契約應記載及不得記載事項). This standardized contract is aimed to prevent delivery platform operators from including clauses that disclaim liability, obscure responsibility, or restrict refunds, so it can protect consumer rights and make consumer contracts fairer and more reasonable.
To safeguard consumer personal data, Article 16 of the Act require delivery platform operators to put in place a personal data security protection plan in accordance with the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法). Furthermore, Article 18 of the Act requests delivery platform operators to maintain complete records of transactions, refunds, and complaints for at least two years. In the event of a consumer dispute, delivery platform operators are legally obligated to provide these records to administrative agencies to improve the efficiency of dispute resolution.
Articles 22 and 23 of the Act require delivery platform operators to provide vocational and hygiene, traffic, and food safety training and other necessary training and management to delivery workers.These provisions aim to lower the risk of food contamination and traffic accidents , thereby improving the quality of delivery services provided and ensuring consumers enjoy safer and more stable services.
- Protecting Partner Merchants’ Rights and Interests:
The Act also addresses the significant difference in the negotiating power between large and small partner merchants and delivery platform operators. Small merchants have long been in a weaker negotiating position in relatively unregulated market.To address unequal outcomes, Article 14 of the Act authorizes the Ministry of Economic Affairs (經濟部) to formulate a standardized delivery cooperation contracts, requiring delivery platform operators to clearly disclose their fee collection and commission structures, payment settlement, contract termination, and dispute resolution mechanisms. These new rules aim to prevent delivery platform operators using their negotiating advantage to unilaterally impose unreasonable terms.
Furthermore, Article 19 of the Act mandates that delivery platform operators maintain records related to payment calculations, transactions, and dispute resolution, enhancing transparency in cash flow and operations for at least 2 years to reduce the risk of arbitrary deductions or termination of cooperation by delivery platform operators.
In short, the Act creates a new regulatory regime to protect not only delivery workers, but also consumers and partner merchants in a rapidly maturing industry that has become an essential service relied on by millions of people in Taiwan.
Search
English