ONLINE food and grocery delivery firm Foodpanda is standing by its “difficult” decision to “offboard its partner riders” in Davao City protesting its rider fee structure.
In a press release forwarded to SunStar Davao, the food delivery firm said that it “made the difficult decision to offboard a small number of riders who have violated their agreement with Foodpanda by calling for disruptions that may affect the ‘wider ecosystem’,” referring to other riders, vendors and customers.
Several Foodpanda delivery riders trooped along Roxas Avenue on Thursday morning, July 15, 2021, to protest the questionable practices of the food and grocery delivery platform that resulted in their diminishing take-home pay.
Riders said they are appealing to the City Government to intervene in their plight regarding the company's "low and unclear" computation of their commission.
Several Foodpanda riders were also slapped with a 10-year suspension after the company heard about their planned silent protest against its payment scheme, which according to a local delivery rider association their average P55-earning per delivery was slashed to almost half since last year.
“Rider pay structure takes into account route and distance among other factors, allowing for a fair pay structure that is higher than other industries,” Foodpanda said, adding riders likewise enjoy benefits from its partnerships with other brands apart from their earnings.
It added, "Beyond earnings through completed orders, riders also enjoy benefits from our partnerships with other brands including discounts on fuel/mobile data, insurance at a significantly lower price for the same benefits, free merchandise, among others."
"To ensure that the platform remains reliable for all our users, we sometimes have to take difficult actions to mitigate operational interruptions," it said.
The management in Davao City conducted massive hiring the same day the riders staged a protest.
"To ensure continuity of service to our customers, we onboarded new riders and re-onboarded those who still wish to be our rider partner, after a screening process," Foodpanda said.
The day before the protest, the app became inaccessible. Protesting riders said this was due to the number of riders who did not get their schedule during that day.
Foodpanda said it remains committed "to providing fair and flexible earning opportunities" to their rider partners, which they had done for seven years of their operation.
"We have always been in constant communications with our rider community, so we can address and take care of their concerns. However, we also take rider integrity and conduct seriously as a responsible business to our vendor partners and customers," the firm said.
They said they will also continue to seek solutions to improve their service among stakeholders.
Davao United Delivery Riders Association Incorporated President Edmund Carillo, in a statement, said the company has an unclear computation of the distance-based payment scheme.
Carillo also said there is also no clear insurance for riders in case of an accident, despite being deducted P280 for their health insurance.
He said they are asking for transparency on the computation, considering that prices of important commodities and gasoline are increasing.