Foreigners pay up to $1,000 to 'rent' delivery accounts to work illegally: Rider group

Foreigners are paying as much as $1,000 to work illegally on delivery or ride-hailing, amid a thriving black market for delivery accounts.

Ng Gan Poh, president of the National Delivery Champions Association (NDCA), told Shin Min Daily News that account rentals can cost up to 10 per cent of the user's weekly or daily earnings.

Outright purchases range from $100 to $1,000. These transactions are typically done through personal networks or social media posts.

Mr Ng added that cases of foreigners illegally doing delivery work in Singapore have been happening since the COVID-19 pandemic. He said he can usually identify them by their vehicle licence plate, clothing, helmet type, and accent.

The NDCA represents those whose main source of income is from food or package delivery.

Only Singaporeans and permanent residents are allowed to work as delivery riders for platforms such as Grab and Deliveroo.

Yeo Wan Ling, assistant secretary-general of the National Trades Union Congress told Shin Min on July 15 that a tripartite working group has been formed to tackle the issue.

This follows repeated complaints about unfair competition to the NTUC, along with associations representing private-hire drivers and delivery riders.

Call for stronger safeguards

Ms Yeo said that tackling the issue requires effort from all sides: platform workers should not sell or rent their accounts, foreigners should not misuse accounts they do not own, and the platforms themselves need to step up enforcement and supervision.

She added that compliant workers are not only losing income opportunities to illegal riders, but also face other challenges such as undercutting by social media carpool groups and illegal cross-border taxi services.