PM: We want to have regulations for Foodpanda, Grab

PARLIAMENT | Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said the government is looking into coming up with regulations to protect the interests of those working in the "gig economy".

The gig economy is a free market system where organisations have short-term engagement contracts with independent workers, and thus temporary positions are common.

Companies such as Foodpanda, Grab and Airbnb utilises this business model.

"Foodpanda was one of the first to introduce this gig economy in Malaysia.

"When they introduced this system, we were not familiar with the phrase 'gig economy'. That is why in the beginning there were no regulations, so there is a possibility that they (the workers) were betrayed by the employers.

"That is why we now want to have regulations and laws where if the employers break these laws, action can be taken against them... but for now, we do not have such regulations," Mahathir (photo) said during the Minister's Question Time (MQT) in the Dewan Rakyat today.

He was responding to a question from Noor Azmi Ghazali (Harapan-Bagan Serai), who had questioned whether Foodpanda and other similar companies were mandated to provide briefings on traffic laws and to ensure their delivery riders had valid licences, insurance and road tax.

"Speaker, I have been hit by a Foodpanda (rider) before," Noor Azmi said at the end of his question before sitting down, eliciting a chuckle from Dewan Rakyat speaker Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof.

Earlier, Mahathir had said the government had formed a tripartite ministerial committee, consisting of the Youth and Sports Ministry, the Human Resources Ministry and the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry.

This committee will come up with a draft for a long-term solution for issues related to the gig economy, Mahathir said.

Earlier this month, a number of Foodpanda riders had gone on strike to protest a new payment scheme introduced by the company.

The company had changed from their old per-hour payment scheme to a higher rate per delivery.

Riders in several states had said this would greatly reduce their earnings as they may have to wait several hours in between orders.

Despite involvement from the Youth and Sports Ministry and Human Resources Ministry in this matter, Foodpanda had stuck by its new payment scheme. - Mkini