The legal action against the food and drink delivery company is being taken by law firm Leigh Day who will argue that the riders are employees of Deliveroo and are entitled to employment rights, and not self-employed contractors as it maintains.

Leigh Day is also bringing age discrimination claims for riders aged under 18 who have been dismissed after Deliveroo introduced a new minimum age requirement.

So far approximately 200 riders have registered to join the claim and the first group of 20 have started the process of bringing a claim by contacting Acas.

Lawyers from Leigh Day, who last year won a landmark victory in the employment tribunal against the taxi and transportation service Uber over the rights of their workers, said that a successful claim against Deliveroo could see substantial compensation for riders for alleged past failures to make appropriate payments.

Deliveroo riders are recruited by Deliveroo, a process which involves an interview, a trial shift and online tests, they are required to wear a Deliveroo-branded uniform and to use a Deliveroo branded box, they are given very specific instructions about how and where they work, they are subject to performance reviews and their terms and rate of pay are determined by Deliveroo.

Annie Powell, a lawyer in the employment team at Leigh Day, said: ‘The idea that Deliveroo riders are self-employed contractors in business on their own account and that Deliveroo is a customer of each rider’s business is absurd.

‘Deliveroo riders carry out the sole function of Deliveroo – to deliver food and drink from restaurants to customers – and are tightly controlled by Deliveroo in what is clearly a dependent work relationship.

‘We will argue that Deliveroo has no reasonable grounds to argue that its riders are self-employed contractors and that it should immediately ensure that its riders are paid at least the NMW and receive paid holiday.

‘We will also argue that Deliveroo’s dismissal of young riders who do not meet Deliveroo’s new minimum age requirement is a clear case of unlawful age discrimination for which the riders should be compensated.’

Deliveroo said it was unable to comment on the claim, but said in a statement: ‘We are proud to offer flexible, well-paid work to over 15,000 self-employed UK riders. We will continue to work closely with our riders to ensure that as the company continues to grow in the UK, our riders continue to benefit from that growth.’