Food courier crisis in Hungary: Labour shortage and opportunities for foreigners with KATA tax revisions

KATA tax reforms have reshaped Budapest’s food delivery landscape, cutting courier earnings and pushing many to leave or work long, gruelling hours. With couriers stretched thin and new workers entering on reduced pay, service quality has come under scrutiny, raising concerns about consumer protection.

Protecting consumers

G7 reports that the Ministry of National Economy has initiated an intensive consumer protection audit of the food delivery sector following a surge in customer complaints. The investigation will examine issues such as food quality upon delivery, delays, service charge structures, and compensation options for affected consumers. This scrutiny is significant as it may reveal the impact of recent policy changes, like the reformed small business flat tax (or KATA tax) and the rise in guest workers, on the sector. Additionally, it highlights the challenges of defining and enforcing consumer protection standards for platform providers like Foodora and Wolt.

What influences the quality?

Food delivery quality is influenced by three separate players: the restaurant, the courier, and the platform company connecting the two. Each operates independently, meaning that restaurants may occasionally miss delivery deadlines due to sector-wide labour shortages, though they rarely send orders cold. Couriers, motivated by earnings, generally work quickly but can face challenges en route that impact quality, such as spills or wet bags. The platform company, meanwhile, provides the technology that manages the customer-restaurant-courier relationship through algorithms, though this becomes harder as demand rises.