Uber is to pay out millions of pounds in missed pension payments to UK drivers dating back as far as 2017 under a deal with the retirement savings watchdog.

The ride hailing company was forced to guarantee its 70,000 UK drivers a minimum hourly wage, holiday pay and pensions in March this year after a landmark supreme court ruling over their employment status. Couriers for the group’s UberEats food delivery service are not included in the deal.

On Friday, Uber said its private hire drivers would now be auto-enrolled on to a scheme through which it would contribute 3% of earnings into a pension pot. Drivers can choose to contribute up to 5% of qualifying earnings but will be able to opt out.

Drivers will also receive back payments dating back to 1 May 2017 or the date of their first trip if they joined more recently.

Uber, whose scheme is provided by NOW: Pensions and managed by Adecco, called on rival operators to help create a cross-industry scheme so that drivers who worked across several apps would always benefit.

Jamie Heywood, Uber’s regional general manager of northern and eastern Europe, said: “We want to ensure that all eligible drivers can benefit no matter who they earn with, so today I am extending an invitation to work with operators such as Bolt, Addison Lee and Ola to create a cross-industry pension scheme.”

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