Grab, Food Panda register 145,000 riders in Socso’s SPS Lindung

KUALA LUMPUR: The Social Security Organisation (Socso) now covers over 145,000 food and parcel delivery partners (including riders and walkers) after Grab Malaysia and Foodpanda registered almost all their delivery partners under its SPS Lindung programme.

In a statement yesterday with Grab Malaysia and Foodpanda, Socso said the two platforms were the first among the 133 service providers to enrol their delivery partners under its Occupational Disaster Scheme.

Socso chief executive officer Datuk Seri Dr Mohammed Azman Aziz Mohamad said gig workers would be protected under Plan Two of the Self-Employment Social Security Scheme, with a yearly RM232.80 contribution given free for one year through the programme.

Socso said it welcomed the two service providers’ decision to register and contribute for their delivery partners.

“I hope more will follow suit and support the government’s initiative to register, contribute and protect delivery partners.

“Taking into account the increasing demand for the gig economy sector, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic, protecting delivery partners is a timely step to ensure their welfare, as they are exposed to occupational risk while on the road.

“This is vital so that workers in informal sectors are not deprived of social safety protection,” said Azman.

The SPS Lindung programme is an upgraded version to Socso’s PenjanaGig, first introduced in June last year to provide social safety protection to gig workers.

Grab Malaysia managing director Sean Goh said SPS Lindung also included the GrabInsure 24/7 insurance protection under the GrabBenefits programme to provide social protection and a safety net to its drivers and delivery partners.

Foodpanda logistics chief Shubham Saran said the company was glad to support Socso’s initiative and gave an assurance that its delivery partners would be protected during mishaps.

As of July 9, 64,773 delivery partners have registered with Socso and are contributing under the scheme.

They make up about 39 per cent of the 166,189 total gig workers in the country contributing to Sosco.

“However, compared with the 2.72 million gig workers recorded by the Statistics Department, the number of gig workers contributing to Socso is low (at only 6.1 per cent),” it added.

Meanwhile, the Covid-19 vaccination scheduling process for taxi and e-hailing drivers, and phailing riders has begun, involving over 50,000 people in the service.

According to a Bernama report, Transport Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong said since last month, his ministry had been receiving the list of names from operators and the first group involved 41,488 taxi and e-hailing drivers and 11,527 p-hailing riders.

The Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force would notify eligible recipients of their vaccination schedule, he said on Thursday.

He said the ministry aimed to inoculate over 300,000 public transport drivers, including phailing riders, in the Klang Valley as soon as possible.