Food delivery riders categorised under e-hailing - Human Resources Ministry

The Human Resources Ministry has categorised food delivery riders as self-employed under e-hailing to ensure their welfare was well taken care of by employers, said its Deputy Minister Awang Hashim.

He said the ministry viewed seriously the problems faced by the group because they played an important part in helping the country in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak.

He added that the government was in the final stages of resolving the issues faced by food delivery riders nationwide especially relating to their social security.

"Further details will be announced by Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri M. Saravanan soon," he said when asked to comment on the development of the memorandum submitted by food delivery riders from GrabFood, FoodPanda and Gerakan Tuntut Malaysia (Tuntut) on July 17.

He said this after launching the Malaysian Skill Integration Management System (MySPIKE) and TVET Instructor eProfiling System (TiPS) here today.

Effective Nov 1, 2018, taxi and e-hailing drivers were required to sign-up with the Social Security Organisation (Socso) and make contributions under the Self-Employment Social Security Scheme.

The scheme, which came into force in June 2017, provides protection to contributors from occupational hazards including illnesses and accidents while carrying out their duties, besides providing cash benefits as well as medical treatment, physical rehabilitation and vocational training facilities.

Earlier, Awang in his speech said, the MySPIKE and TiPS system developed by the Department of Skills Development and the Centre for Instructor and Advanced Skill Training was aimed at improving the quality and efficiency of service delivery related to skills training and technical and vocational education training (TVET).

-- BERNAMA