KUALA LUMPUR, July 23 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s wish to meet p-hailing companies to discuss complaints of low delivery rates and commission is lauded especially with the rising cost of living.

A professor in economics, Normaz Wana Ismail, of the School of Business and Economics, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) said there was a need to increase the rates with the huge number of youths involved as gig economy workers.

She also expressed the need for the government to look into social protection for gig workers in the country.

"The government needs to ensure they (gig workers) contribute to the Self-Employed Social Security Scheme (SKSPS) under the Social Security Organisation (Socso). This is because if they are involved in accidents, they have no social protection currently,” she told Bernama.

She said associations representing these industry workers need to play a role in raising awareness about their social protection.

"The subscription for the (SKSPS) scheme is low, but the protection is very good. The role of the association is vital to continue the campaign for gig economy workers (to also subscribe to the scheme),” she added.

Yesterday, the Prime Minister, at a ‘Himpunan Rider Madani Selangor’ asked to be given a week for him to meet with p-hailing companies to get a clearer picture of the situation.

Anwar said the government had also allocated RM1 million to appoint an informal secretariat to coordinate issues related to p-hailing in an effort to ensure the welfare of workers in the industry is taken care of.

Meanwhile, the Malaysian P-Hailing Delivery Riders Association (Penghantar Malaysia) president Zulhelmi Mansor said the initiative announced by Anwar proved that the government is aware of the situation that is plaguing workers in the gig economy, especially in the p-hailing and e-hailing sectors.

On the RM1 million allocation, he said, it proved the government’s commitment to looking after the welfare of gig economy workers.

Zulhelmi said he hoped the Prime Minister’s wish to meet with p-hailing companies will have a positive result.

"The current (commission) rates now differ according to the provider companies, but they are all low.

"So we hope that the companies, after the meeting with the Prime Minister, will be able to assess and then increase the wage rate in line with our work, working hours, the risk we take, as well as take into consideration the current economic situation,” he said.

He also suggested that the commission rate provided by the p-hailing companies to food operators or vendors be lowered.

"This is because food operators or vendors will increase food prices based on the commission rate set by companies. What companies can do is lower the commission rate for vendors so that the wage of the (delivery) riders can be increased.

"This will ensure consumers are not burdened by the increase in delivery fees,” he added. — Bernama