Platform economy database
Database of initiatives and court cases in the EU
Eurofound’s platform economy database provides information on 411 initiatives and court cases that exist or have been implemented in relation to activities in the platform economy. The database was last updated in March 2025 and provides metadata for each entry, such as geographical scope, year, type of initiative, actors involved, sector and companies concerned. Initiatives include legal instruments such as legislative changes or court decisions, as well as voluntary interventions undertaken by different stakeholders to address issues around platform work.
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Latvia
In 2018, an amendment to the Latvia transportation law (Autopārvadājumu likums) was passed, to address the participation of ride-sharing platforms in the Latvian transportation market. This amendment restricts ride-sharing services to cars with up to four passenger seats and specifies that such services can be only offered, requested and confirmed using electronic communications services (such as a website or a mobile application online). Payments are determined based on the fare recorded by a taximeter and surcharge, and can only be made non-cash. Carriage of goods or freight is not allowed by non-commercial entities.
Here are the key points:
Registration: Digital platforms providing passenger transport services in Latvia must be registered in the Informative Database of Road Transport Operators maintained by the Road Transport Administration. This ensures that they meet specific legal and regulatory requirements.
Service Requirements: These platforms must offer services that allow passengers to request, confirm, and pay for transport services online. They should provide information about tariffs, additional service charges, and carrier details, ensuring transparency for users.
Non-cash Payments: Particularly for commercial passenger car services, the platforms must support non-cash payments, with fares calculated and settled online.
Data Processing: Platforms are responsible for processing and storing information related to the services they provide, ensuring compliance with data protection regulations.
Liability: Both the platform provider and the carrier using the platform are jointly responsible for ensuring that transport services comply with the law.
These provisions aim to regulate the operation of digital platforms in the road transport sector, ensuring they operate fairly and transparently while protecting consumer rights.
The platform economy is one of those moving targets, which, despite receiving increasing media and policy attention, has proven difficult to regulate. Given the heterogeneity of employment relationships, business models, types of platform work and cross-border issues, this is not surprising.
Technological change is accelerating as the capacity of electronic devices to digitally store, process and communicate information expands. Digitalisation is transforming the EU economy and labour markets: nearly one-third of EU workplaces are categorised as highly digitalised. What are the implications of the digital revolution for employment and work?
The rapid rise of the platform economy has led to a marked transformation of European labour markets, and existing regulatory frameworks and voluntary initiatives have yet to catch up. While platform work offers opportunities for workers and employers and potentially contributes to innovation, economic growth and competitiveness in the EU, it has been criticised from the beginning because of the poor employment and working conditions often experienced by workers.
While 2020 may come to be seen as the year platform work gathered pace and started to go mainstream – thanks in large part to COVID-19 containment measures sparking an increase in food and grocery delivery – 2021 could be the year that regulation of platform work is set in motion.
