foodpanda Malaysia has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Social Security Organization (Socso) to provide wider and better coverage of social protection for over 60,000 of its delivery partners under the Socso’s Self-Employment Social Security Scheme (SKSPS).
foodpanda delivery partners will have access to various benefits including medical, disablement, funeral expenses and intensive rehabilitation.
The MoU was signed between foodpanda Malaysia managing director Sayantan Das and Socso chief executive officer Dato’ Sri Dr. Mohammed Azman Dato’ Aziz Mohammed, and witnessed by Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri M. Saravanan.
Saravanan said the SKSPS will see delivery partners receiving subsidized protection from the government and complemented by foodpanda, under the Budget 2022’s initiative – SPS Padanan Caruman (SPS Contribution Matching).
“SPS Padanan Caruman is an incentive offered to the self-employed individuals including gig workers to ensure that they are protected against any mishaps while carrying out their work. This is in line with the Government’s Keluarga Malaysia values that emphasize caring spirit among Malaysia’s multi-cultural society,” he said.
Dr. Azman said the SKSPS can also provide assistance through the SPS Padanan Caruman programme in which the government provides incentives of up to 80% for individual contributors.
“On the other hand, foodpanda Malaysia will subsidize 50% of the remaining balance or 10% of the total amount, for foodpanda delivery partners, amounting to RM23.30 per personfor one year protection” he said.
The SKSPS (Skim Keselamatan Sosial Pekerjaan Sendiri) is a protection plan for self-employed insured persons against self-employment injury including occupational diseases and accidents during work-related activities. Some of the benefits under this plan include, medical, temporary and permanent disablement, dependants’ benefit, constant-attendance allowance, funeral, education, and state-of-art facilities for physical or vocational rehabilitation.
Sayantan thanked both the government and Socso for spearheading the initiative for its delivery partners.
“As a disruptor in the q-commerce space, our mission has always been to play our part in uplifting the B40 community and the livelihood of their families by improving their income through our platform. This is aligned with the government’s aspiration to transform Malaysia into a digitally-enabled and technology-driven high income nation, as well as a regional leader in the digital economy,” he said.
“foodpanda Malaysia is committed to protecting our delivery partners and this remains our top priority given that they are exposed to occupational dangers on a daily basis.
“We believe this announcement is a crucial step given the important role that delivery partners have in our ecosystem. We truly hope this initiative would help ease their commitment in contributing to this protection scheme and encourage more of our delivery partners to sign up,” Sayantan added.
