Delivery riders protest 'unfair' rating system at Foodpanda office
Persatuan Penghantar P-Hailing Malaysia (Penghantar) said these include riders who were suspended for low order acceptance rates and terminated without being given a chance to defend themselves.
Gathering outside the Southgate Commercial Centre in Kuala Lumpur this morning...
A delivery rider association submitted a memorandum to Foodpanda today, appealing the food and grocery delivery platform to allow back onto the app those who they said were unfairly terminated or suspended.
Persatuan Penghantar P-Hailing Malaysia (Penghantar) said these include riders who were suspended for low order acceptance rates and terminated without being given a chance to defend themselves.
Gathering outside the Southgate Commercial Centre in Kuala Lumpur this morning, a group of 20 riders protested outside the delivery platform’s operations office.
Pejuang Youth exco Mohd Akmal Mohd Yusoff, who was also at the protest, told Malaysiakini the riders have resorted to this after a year of inaction from Foodpanda on the issues raised.
“The protest is all about those issues related to riders, those charges that they are entitled to.
“For some reason, if they stop to go to the toilet - for instance - or go for prayers or even heavy rain, they stop. Then, the charges they are entitled to will be deducted,” he said.
Akmal added that the riders also risk being demoted in rankings in these events.
“If they are demoted, they will receive less money for each trip so this is not something favourable to the riders,” he said.
The group also pushed for:
An immediate review of the rating system - which currently negatively impacts Muslim riders who decline non-halal orders
An official statement from the company on service fee rates according to distance travelled
A review of the app’s operation radius - which they said was expanded without consulting Foodpanda riders
Earnings determined by rating system
The reason they wanted a review of the rider ratings, Akmal explained, is because it is tied directly to how much they earn.
“If you just started, I think your rating will just be one and if you have been there for quite some time, then you are rated at five or something.
“So, the higher your rating is, of course, the more money you get,” he said.
Penghantar warned if their demands are not immediately met by the company, the association and Pejuang will appeal to the government to take action against Foodpanda for its alleged manipulation of delivery riders under its platform.
Akmal said Penghantar previously appealed to the Human Resources Ministry in a meeting on March 2021.
Following the meeting, the ministry was said to have issued a letter to Foodpanda to improve the work environment of its riders.
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