Complaints of foreign riders ‘renting’ local delivery accounts on the rise
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SINGAPORE: An islandwide government initiative on foreigners doing illegal delivery work in Singapore led to the arrest of three persons, Senior Minister of State for Transport Sun Xueling and Senior Minister of State for Manpower Koh Poh Koon announced last month.
However, there has been an increase in the number of foreign delivery riders who are said to rent the accounts of their Singaporean counterparts in order to take food orders. This increase in competition has made it more difficult for local riders.
When the National Delivery Champions Association (NDCA) was started in June 2024, there were only a handful of such incidents. However, according to an MS News report, there are now dozens of complaints every week.
The NDCA is an affiliate of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC).
Little wonder, then, that a number of local riders have taken the time out to aid the government in its efforts to discover foreign delivery riders. Dr Koh gave them a shoutout in a recent social media post, underlining that for food delivery riders, “every minute counts.”
According to Ng Gan Poh, the association’s president, the NDCA receives between five and 10 reports every day. The NDCA then hands in reports to the authorities weekly so that enforcement action can be conducted.
MS News quoted him as saying that the number of violations remains high, “Even after accounting for duplicate reports of the same rider.”
He explained that during the COVID-19 pandemic, many Singaporeans started working as delivery riders. However, eventually, some of them started renting them out to others, including others, to make extra cash.
“These outsiders are very cautious. They now mainly arrange transactions through Telegram chat groups, and only those who know the channels can rent accounts,” he added.
A delivery rider who spoke to Shin Min Daily News said that locals who rent out their delivery accounts can make as much as several hundred dollars each month, and a number of them are even paid every time a delivery is made using their account. Moreover, those with high account levels can charge high rental fees.
Dr Koh wrote on Aug 20 that the government’s islandwide endeavour had been made possible with the “strong support from our local delivery riders. In the middle of their own busy shifts, 372 riders took the time — about 10 minutes each — to assist our officers.”
He added: “Their willingness to pause and help was no small sacrifice, and we are deeply grateful for their cooperation and sense of responsibility.”
However, it’s not easy for local riders to identify foreign riders, as they don’t wear official uniforms, keep to themselves, and pick up orders quickly, with minimal, if any, interactions with others. /TISG