'They hide the food': Man accuses Malaysians of working illegally as delivery riders in Singapore

It is illegal for a foreigner to work as a food delivery rider in Singapore.

Yet motorcycles with Malaysian plates have been spotted here with riders wearing the distinctive green Grab apparel carrying the distinctive green Grab bag behind.

Sharing photos of several such motorcycles, a Stomp contributor said: "Malaysian-registered motorcycles are doing GrabFood deliveries in Singapore."

But some are more discreet about it.

"Some of them have no GrabFood bag on the motorcycle seat, only a top box. They hide the food inside to not let people know they are doing GrabFood delivery in Singapore," said the Stomp contributor, who shared a video showing one such example.

On Sept 26, four foreigners were charged with four counts of working illegally as food delivery riders in Singapore without valid work passes.

Two Singapore citizens and one permanent resident were also charged with three counts of abetment of these offences. They had purportedly provided the foreigners with access to their accounts on various food delivery platforms, despite being aware that the foreigners did not have valid work passes to work as food delivery riders.

Foreigners who are self-employed without a valid work pass may be liable to a fine not exceeding $20,000, imprisonment for up to two years, or both. Upon conviction, they will be permanently barred from working in Singapore.

Local delivery platform workers who are found to have allowed foreigners to use their accounts may face the same penalties.

The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said it has been engaging the major food delivery platforms to enhance their processes and prevent the misuse of accounts by unauthorised parties. MOM and the platforms have also worked together on educational messages to advise riders against allowing foreigners to use or share their food delivery accounts, which have been disseminated through the platforms' communication channels.

A Grab spokesman previously told Stomp: "Grab has a robust process for registration and verification of delivery-partners and to prevent account sharing.

"For instance, delivery-partners are required to upload their identification details during sign-up. The team will then conduct a series of checks and verifications against the information submitted. 

"Accounts will only be approved when applicants satisfy all necessary requirements. We also have a selfie-verification feature within the app that regularly prompts our partners to authenticate their identity before they can be assigned order bookings.

"Delivery-partners who do not fulfil any of the above requirements during the registration and verification process will not be able to do deliveries on our platform.

"Our Code of Conduct for partners is publicly available, which also outlines examples of infringements that can lead to suspension or termination of driver-partner’s accounts with Grab. Our Terms of Service are also publicly available, and clearly states that our partners should not authorise others to use their identity or use status."

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This article was first published in Stomp. Permission required for reproduction.