PUBLISHED ONMarch 16, 2023 7:20 AMByClaudia Tan[Update March 16] A spokesperson from the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) told AsiaOne on Thursday (March 16) that they are currently investigating the matter.
Under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act, any foreigner working without a valid work pass or moonlighting, and others found abetting the offence, may face a fine of up to $20,000 or imprisonment of up to two years, or both.
Foreigners found guilty may also be barred from working in Singapore. The spokesperson added that the ministry is investigating if delivery workers have allowed their accounts with delivery services companies to be used by unauthorised parties, and hence liable for an abetment offence.
MOM has also contacted the delivery platform companies to ask what they are doing to prevent the misuse of accounts of legitimate delivery workers by unauthorised parties and ensure the effectiveness of these measures.
In response to AsiaOne’s queries, Foodpanda said that they are aware of the incident and have since suspended the account that was used.
The food delivery platform also said that they have since put in place measures to prevent such frauds.
Delivery partners now have to verify their identity on the app with a selfie before the start of every shift to prevent identity fraud and to protect their own accounts.
Failure to do so can lead to account suspension and potential blacklist.
Peeved that another man had allegedly been 'stealing' his delivery jobs, one delivery rider decided to expose the former on social media.
A video of the 'exposé' was re-uploaded to Twitter by user Fi_krayy on Wednesday (March 8) showing the enraged delivery rider behind the camera yelling at a man dressed in a blue T-shirt.
"Illegal rider doing our local delivery jobs," accused the delivery rider. He then panned the camera to the man's e-bike.
The e-bike was also equipped with two black bags, instead of the usual brightly-coloured food delivery bags from the delivery platform.
It is not known if the man is a foreigner or a Singaporean.
Although the man was already in tears and was begging for forgiveness, the delivery rider continued to berate him: "You're not supposed to come to Singapore [to] do this, our jobs are getting [less] because of you!"
Threatening to call the police on him, the delivery rider then asked to see his profile on the Foodpanda app, so that he could get his full name.
According to Foodpanda's website, only Singaporeans or Permanent Residents can apply to be food delivery riders.
Despite the food delivery rider's obvious frustration, netizens didn't seem to side with him. Instead, they called him out for his actions, reasoning that the man in the video - Singaporean or not - was simply trying to make a living.
Back in 2019, the Ministry of Manpower arrested two Malaysians during an enforcement operation that targeted social visit pass (SVP) holders working illegally as food delivery riders.
The ministry was tipped off by Zheng Guo Jing, who was frustrated by the situation, reported The New Paper then.
Zheng said that the operation was allegedly headed by a Malaysian man, who would approach local food delivery riders, asking if they had any food delivery accounts to spare.
He initially started using the accounts himself to make food deliveries and gave the account owners 5 per cent of his earnings.
He eventually recruited motorcyclists from across the Causeway, and let them use the accounts he had accumulated in exchange for a 30 per cent cut of their takings.
"That means he keeps 25 per cent. That's how he makes money. There is an opportunity for him to earn up to $300 per day," Zheng said.
claudiatan@asiaone.com
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