Platform workers air frustrations on unclear fares, illegal 'hitch' rides and other issues in dialogue with Ng Chee Meng

SINGAPORE: For private hire driver Francis Loo, 60, one of the challenges of making a living is dealing with "unfair competition" from those offering illegal "hitch" rides on apps like Telegram.

Such drivers are "bypassing" official platforms and ferrying passengers around without insurance coverage, pointed out the part-time Grab and Tada driver, who has been in this line for 10 years.

He pointed out one Telegram chat group, SG Hitch, which has close to 140,000 members. "You can clamp down, you can close the (group), but it could sprout up somewhere else," said Mr Loo.

This was among the frustrations that he and other platform workers aired at a dialogue with National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) Secretary-General Ng Chee Meng on Tuesday (Aug 26).

Over 60 delivery riders, private hire drivers and taxi drivers met Mr Ng at Fernvale Community Club in the labour chief's Jalan Kayu Single Member Constituency.

This is the second such dialogue in as many months, after an earlier one in July.

Media were invited to observe but not report on the exchanges at Tuesday's dialogue, which lasted more than one-and-a-half hours.

Reporters got to speak to Mr Ng after the session, as well as to some platform workers selected by NTUC.

Full-time Grab delivery rider Muhd Khairil, 33, who is preparing to start a family, said the problem he faced was uncertainty around his earnings because platform fares and orders changed every day.

There was "no transparency" around base fares and distance multipliers, he said.

He wanted platform operators to be more transparent about how workers were paid so they could gauge their earnings and have more consistency.

CNA also spoke to ComfortDelGro taxi driver Wong Chang Sheng, 40. Mr Wong said he raised illegal hitch rides because this problem was still ongoing and affected the business of legitimate platform workers.

He also flagged the issue of different platforms having varying claim limits for drivers' cleaning fees after a passenger soils a vehicle, for example by vomiting.

Mr Wong said he wanted to see a law requiring the passenger to pay instead.

In a media statement after the dialogue, NTUC noted that platform workers continued to share frustrations about unclear fare calculations and incentive schemes.

This lack of clarity encouraged excessive working hours, creating safety concerns, it said.

NTUC added that without clear breakdowns on how their earnings were determined, it was difficult for platform workers to judge if they were being paid fairly and to make informed decisions about their work schedules.

Addressing these concerns, Mr Ng said the lack of transparency in fare components was a key issue.

"All platform operators should provide workers with clear information on the components of their earnings so that workers can make informed decisions about their working hours and earnings potential," he said.

Giving a flavour of the other feedback from platform workers at the dialogue, Mr Ng said it ranged from individual, ground-level matters to industry-level issues.

Ground-level matters included connectivity issues in basement car parks where platform workers were carrying out jobs, and illegal account-sharing that could amount to "potential fraud", he said.

The labour chief said NTUC would make use of the trilateral mechanism between platform operators, unions and the government to deal with issues at the policy level.

For issues like day-to-day livelihoods, NTUC would also partner the platform workers' associations to negotiate with platform operators.

This would be to find convergence "so that both the companies can win, and all the workers that we represent can also win with a more sustainable livelihood, better welfare and hopefully, also better work prospects", he said.

The NTUC-affiliated National Delivery Champions Association, National Private Hire Vehicles Association and National Taxi Association have had legal powers to collectively represent platform workers since January.

ENFORCEMENT LEADS TO INCOME INCREASES

Mr Ng also said that recent enforcement actions against illegal platform workers have acted as a deterrent and produced good outcomes for legitimate platform workers.

The enforcement led to a 10 to 15 per cent increase in the incomes of private hire drivers, and up to a 30 per cent increase in the incomes of cross-border taxi drivers, he said.

Asked how these numbers were derived, Mr Ng said the figures were anecdotal and based on information gathered on the ground from platform workers.

"It means that the deterrence effect has taken place. Illegal activities of foreign drivers or riders operating in Singapore likely have dropped," he said.

NTUC said that for ride-hailing, the enforcement particularly benefited drivers of premium and larger vehicles plying entry points and key tourist locations like Changi Airport and Gardens by the Bay.

A crackdown on illegal platform workers has been ongoing. In July, a trilateral workgroup to address the issue of foreigners illegally performing delivery jobs was formed.

According to NTUC, it called for the trilateral workgroup after its engagement session with platform workers in July.

NTUC said that since then, it has been working with the platform work associations, Transport Ministry and Manpower Ministry on enforcement actions against illegal point-to-point transport and delivery services.

"The enforcement efforts have already delivered tangible results, with over 70 vehicles impounded and three foreigners working delivery jobs arrested and under investigation for working illegally," said NTUC.

Mr Ng noted that the enforcement actions involved collaboration with platform workers who did surveillance and gave tip-offs to the government.

Asked about the frequency of enforcement, the labour chief said actions would be "targeted" but that in the longer term, deterrence was what was most effective.