Driving for Uber, Uber Eats and Co. in Switzerland

Are you interested in earning money chauffeuring passengers or doing food deliveries for extra money? Here, moneyland.ch answers questions about driving for Uber, Uber Eats, and similar service providers in Switzerland.

Which ride-hailing services are available in Switzerland?

Apart from conventional taxi companies, there are currently only two ride-hailing apps that are widely used in Switzerland. These are the US company Uber, and its Swiss counterpart Vertt.

In Switzerland, driving for ride-hailing services like Uber generally requires you to be legally self-employed as a taxi driver.

Ride sharing services in Switzerland:

Which food delivery services are available in Switzerland?

If you want to earn money with food deliveries in Switzerland, you have a number of options. Most Swiss food delivery services use models in which you are officially employed on an hourly or fixed basis.

Food delivery services in Switzerland:

Am I allowed to drive passengers for money in Switzerland?

In order to drive passengers for money in Switzerland, you must first complete additional driver’s training, after which the code 121 is added to your driver’s license. Additionally, you must get your vehicle licensed for professional passenger transportation at your cantonal road traffic office. Your vehicle must also be fitted with a tachograph.

In addition to the driving rules, you must also comply with social security requirements (more on this below). It goes without saying that you must be a Swiss citizen or have a residence permit that authorizes you to work in Switzerland.

Am I allowed to do food deliveries for money in Switzerland?

If you are employed by a food delivery service, either part-time or full-time, then it is up to your employer to make sure that all legal requirements are met.

Doing food deliveries on a self-employed basis is only legal if your activities meet the social security requirements for self-employment (more on this below). You must be Swiss or have an eligible residence permit in order to work as a courier in Switzerland.

Do I have to pay taxes and social security contributions?

All income you earn, including income from side gigs, must be included in the income you declare in your tax return. If you work on a self-employed basis, then you may also be eligible to collect Swiss value-added tax (VAT).

The situation surrounding social security contributions is less clear. You are generally not required to pay social security contributions on income that you earn from an employer if the gross income does not exceed 2300 francs per year. The same applies to income from self-employment, but only if you are also employed.

To qualify as self-employed, from a social security standpoint, you have to work for yourself only, invest your own capital in the business, and have multiple customers. The social security office decides on a case-by-case basis whether you qualify as self-employed, or if you should actually be an employee of the companies you provide services to.

Because of the complexity of the Swiss social security system, ride-hailing and food delivery services are increasingly moving towards employment-based models.

Which insurance should I have before chauffeuring or doing deliveries?

Standard Swiss car insurance for private individuals does not cover your car if it is used for commercial activities. Commercial activities include paid passenger transportation and paid transportation of goods. So before you drive passengers or do food deliveries with your own car, you first have to upgrade your private car insurance to commercial car insurance.

Whether you use a car or just do deliveries by bicycle or scooter, you should have personal liability insurance to cover your liability for damages to other people and their property.

If you drive on a self-employed basis, then the income you earn is not covered by paid sick leave, loss-of-income coverage from accident insurance, or disability pensions and survivor’s pensions from a pension fund or accident insurance. If you want to insure the income you earn from driving or delivering, you will have to do this using insurance offers from private insurance companies.

Is driving for ride-hailing and food delivery services worth it?

The financial compensation you get from both ride-hailing services and food delivery services is relatively low. Driving for Uber, Uber Eats, and similar services will not make you rich. However, many people drive for these services as a way of earning income on the side. The employment conditions are also the subject of ongoing discussions.

More on this topic:
Extra money in Switzerland: Ideas for side gigs
Money-saving tips for car owners in Switzerland