David Hunter, a delivery driver in the Illawarra, said that since fuel prices have gone above $2 a litre, the economics of working for apps are coming into question.

"With fuel prices going up, you're deciding whether you're going on a run that's going to give you $60-$80 of work, and $20 of that is spent on petrol," he said.

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As prices have been on the rise for the past two to three weeks and with roads closed due to flooding, Mr Hunter said he was beginning to reconsider his options.

"I've got one more 7/11 fuel lock in for $1.92 and that's it."

Delivery platforms have begun to respond to rising costs for their drivers by instituting additional charges for customers.

Emma Foley, head of driver operations and marketplace for Uber Australia said on March 11 that the company was rolling out a 60 day fuel surcharge.

"This will be a temporary per-kilometre based surcharge paid by riders, 100 per cent of which will go to driver-partners," Ms Foley said.

"This means driver-partners will receive from riders about an extra 50 cents on an average trip..

"The goal of this is to reduce the burden of the unprecedented nature of recent fuel increases while keeping the Uber platform working well for everyone."

Competitor DiDi will begin a 6 cent per kilometre surcharge from March 21.

Mr Hunter said while the amounts may seem small, the impact will be felt by drivers.

Already-rising fuel prices have skyrocketed after uncertainty and disruptions stemming from the Russian invasion of Ukraine hit global oil markets. Increased travel in late 2021 and the global recovery from COVID-19 were already pushing up petrol prices after they dipped in 2020.

For University of Wollongong masters student Devi Naga Srinivas Chilukuri who works part time as a delivery driver, higher petrol prices come on top of increased competition.

"There's so many people who have come and opened up, everybody is doing it now," he said.

However, as Mr Chilukuri pointed out, the job remained attractive as a side hustle.

"This is a flexible job, you can just pick it up and go. Once your classes are done, you can start whenever you feel like it."

Mr Hunter agreed, particularly as earnings are not taxed on a pay-as-you-go basis.

"I've got a mortgage, kids, a new home and it's a bit of extra money on the side," he said.

"You can't really argue with something that's in your pocket on an app that you turn on, go out and get a couple of hours of work and then turn it off when you're done."

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