Are these generally off-work or out-of-work chefs, or people specifically setting up to provide this service? In the TC article, it sounded like a current restaurant chef; in that case, isn't it basically takeaway?

I've always thought the game changer in this field would be based around bulk orders (group buying) - e.g., cheaper curry dish for you if others in your office or immediate area group together to improve scale efficiency for the chef and delivery.

It seems like there's a much greater scope for casual/ad-hoc delivery than production, based on the safety/certification issues. Of course, there are still potential risks with poorly trained/equipped transport workers letting your food get too warm|cold|stale, etc.

I was thinking a little while ago about how we're almost at the point of making the digital timer pizza-box from Snow Crash a reality -- or in my scheme, something more useful, like a data logging thermometer.

It might be a little clunky still, but if you established some sort of ongoing service, an upfront purchase/loan/amortised lifespan device might make it practical to have a little temp + humidity + realtime clock with bluetooth/nfc comms to talk to your phone when your food gets delivered. And you have a solid audit trail if anything turns out dodgy.