The use of Learner’s Permit, Provisional (P1 or P2) Licence with Food Delivery Service

Driving for delivery services is one of the most popular side hustles in Australia. The main reason is because of its flexibility, we can work whenever and wherever we want, in other words, Be Your Own Boss. Quite useful for those who want to achieve short-term goals or for those who want to keep working while waiting to get a full-time job.

Uber Eats is the most popular on-demand food and grocery delivery service in the country. As a market leader in the industry, this platform has more on-the-road delivery drivers. Uber is not alone, there are several other companies battling for market share including Menulog, DoorDash and Deliveroo.

The advantage of working as a courier for the on-demand platforms above is the ease of getting started. There’s no need for complicated requirements such as vehicle inspection or special licensing.

You can use any vehicle you have, including a bike that you certainly don’t need a licence to drive. But, if you intend to use a motorized vehicle (car, motorbike or scooter) there is one additional requirement, a driver’s licence.

Delivering with L, P1 and P2 Licence

As we know, it is unlawful for Australians to drive a motor vehicle on a road across the country without holding a driver’s licence, for that reason the company requires its drivers to have it.

For people who already have a full or unrestricted driver’s licence, this is certainly not a problem, but what about delivery drivers with Learner (L), Provisional P1 (commonly known as Reds), Provisional P2 (often called Greens) plate, are they eligible to deliver with this platform?

Those licence conditions apply for novice drivers and have some restrictions such as speed restrictions, vehicle types and laws against using a mobile phone while on the road.

Due to these restrictions, there are companies that have decided to refuse this kind of licence condition, but there are also several companies that still allow their applicants to use a provisional licence when registering as a delivery driver on their platform.

Sign up for Uber Eats on P1 / P2 Licence

We often see questions about doing Uber eats on a provisional licence. As a widely used on-demand delivery platform in Australia, I’m sure many people want to deliver with this company.

However, according to our findings, Uber is the most stringent company when it comes to licence requirements compared to competitors. This may be related to the high interest of the new delivery person who prefers to join their platform.

They clearly stated on the Uber Eats sign up page that any provisional driver licences including the learner are not accepted when used to register.

This is certainly a disappointment for Australians who want to be able to immediately earn additional income by becoming an Uber delivery person. As we know we need up to three years on a provisional licence before we can apply for the full one.

Sign up using P1 / P2 plate for Menulog, Doordash, Deliveroo, etc.

Menulog has a similar policy with Uber, on their official website they state that Learners and P1 (reds) licences are not accepted to drive with them. However, they did not mention whether P2 licence (greens) holders also did not meet the requirements. However we’ve found the answer to this in the online driver boards, some drivers stated that they had no problem registering with greens (P2) licences.

For DoorDash, they didn’t mention detailed driver licence requirements on their website. After browsing around the driver community board I found some interesting things from some of the drivers there.

They stated that they had no problems when signing up using provisional licences, both P1 or P2. There is even one of them who stated that they are now delivering using learner licence. It seems that DoorDash is not very strict when determining driver’s licence requirements.

Unlike other platforms, Deliveroo gives leeway to its delivery drivers. When delivering with a scooter or motorcycle drivers will need to have a minimum of a learner’s permit or provisional licence. When drivers choose to use their car, they will need to have at least a provisional licence.

Out of this, it can be said that every delivery platform other than Uber won’t bother about your licence. This is good news for those who were not accepted by Uber because of their provisional licence.

Alternative to Provisional Licence?

In most states in Australia, a temporary visa holder or international student is not required to have an Australian licence to hit the road. They can use their current overseas licence to legally drive across the country. In addition, they can also use it as one of the requirements to work with Uber Eats or other similar companies.

If you have both types of licences, some drivers suggest you to choosing an overseas licence instead of the provisional or learner’s permit when applying.

However, the conditions are different for drivers who work in Victoria, because temporary visa holders are required to convert their licence to a Victorian licence. This applies to those who have lived or will be living in Victoria for 6 months or more.

Don’t have an overseas licence? There’s nothing wrong with registering using a bicycle (including an electric bike) because most platforms also accept this type of vehicle. One of the advantages of this vehicle is that you will not have trouble parking, it is easier to work in the CBD area and more economical because it is not affected by the increase of the fuel prices.

Provisional Licence and Learner’s Permit Limitation

At this point, you might more confident to sign up as a delivery driver after knowing that some companies allow the use of a provisional licence or learner’s permit. But first, you need to know in advance about the restrictions imposed on this stage of licence which is set by your local government.

Maybe you already know that every state across Australia has enacted regulations governing the use of mobile phones while driving or commonly known as Mobile Phone Road Rules. Using a smartphone while driving or riding can be distracting, increasing the driver’s chance of being involved in a crash.

Working as a food delivery driver undoubtedly requires you to take a look at your mobile phone more often. Whether it’s to accept delivery requests when it appears on the screen or to help you find restaurant and customer address by using online maps apps like Waze or Google Maps.

In some states, such as Victoria and New South Wales, restricted licences holders including learners, P1 and P2 drivers are not permitted to use their phones at all while driving or riding including while stationary. Drivers can only use it when they’re properly parked.

We recommend that you learn more about the law that applies in your state to avoid heavy penalties including demerit points and fines.

As we already know, online food and grocery delivery service are booming lately, starting with the arrival of Uber Eats. This kind of service becomes necessary during 2020 when some people can’t go out of their house to get their favourite meals. At that time this service has become one of the essential services in the country along with cafes and restaurants that are allowed to sell takeaway food and beverage.

Since the demand for meal delivery services is rising, food delivery service providers such as Uber continue to open up opportunities for those who want to earn income by becoming gig delivery drivers.

Many people want to be a part of this gig economy as they are attracted by a simple job with competitive pay rates. In addition, to be able to join a driver, drivers only need to upload several documents that most people already have, such as proof of ID and driver’s licence, especially for delivery partners who are delivering using motorized vehicles.