KUALA LUMPUR: A group of unhappy p-hailing riders claimed they were left with no choice but to take to the streets to highlight their woes over their pay and working conditions.
They claimed that previous complaints to the respective delivery companies and the Human Resources Ministry had fallen on deaf ears.
P-hailing is defined as services involving the delivery of food, drinks and parcels using motorcycles.
One rider, who identified himself only as Firdaus, claimed that the unfair compensation and incentives had forced them to launch another strike against the delivery company.
"Previously, a p-hailing rider would be paid almost RM90 after completing a total of 10 orders.
"That amount has significantly dropped.
"Nowadays, a p-hailing rider would only get around RM50 after completing nine orders," he said at a press conference organised by PKR here today.
Also present during press conference,
which was streamed live on PKR's official Facebook page, were PKR Youth chief Adam Adli Abdul Halim, his deputy Muhammad Kamil Abdul Munim, the wing's strategic director Bryan Ng Yih Miin and several riders from various food delivery companies.
Firdaus also questioned if p-hailing riders were freelancers according to the gig economy model.
"Is it still relevant to describe us as gig economy workers? Nowadays, it is more like a master and a servant.
"We would still be reprimanded or have our contract suspended if we fail to don the company's uniform or use the company's food delivery bag, which we bought using our own money.
"Even our Employees Provident Fund (EPF) and Social Security Organisation (Socso) contributions are paid on our own," he said.
Another p-hailing rider shared his view of the situation.
"There were occasions where a late delivery was the result of severe traffic congestion or due to a downpour.
"The company would 'block' (suspend) our account for a week for late delivery or when they received complaints from customers without even hearing our side of the story.
"There were also occasions where we related cases of being scolded by our customers but the company reprimanded us instead," the rider claimed.
Firdaus, meanwhile, said he had highlighted the woes faced by p-hailing riders via a memo submitted to Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri M. Saravanan on July 17, 2020.
"At the time, the minister gave us his assurance that he would find an amicable solution to our predicaments.
"Two years on, the problem affecting p-hailing riders remains unresolved," he said.