PUTRAJAYA: The government has been urged to intervene to resolve the issue of p-hailing riders following the service provider's sudden decision to reduce basic wage rates.
The drop in the rates over the past month has affected riders' daily incomes and their wellbeing.
A p-hailing representative, Mohd Adie Ali Nafiah, said riders now earn as little as RM1 per delivery trip, and the amount is not worth their time, energy and the risk they take on the road.
He said this has affected each rider's income by about RM1,000 for a month.
He said the service provider has lowered delivery charge rates from RM5 to rm4 to RM4.50 for trips of up to 2km.
"Even though the difference may seem small, the impact is big for riders like me," he said at the Transport Ministry compound today.
Earlier today, he and 50 riders gathered outside the ministry to submit a memorandum on the problems faced by riders to the ministry's deputy secretary-general (management) Dr Nor Fuad Abdul Hamid.
Present was Malaysian Trade Union Congress secretary-general Kamarul Baharin Mansor.
Adie added that although the service provider had increased incentives and weekly bonuses, they are still not worth the risk and hard work.
He said the incentives and weekly bonuses are just temporary perks.
Kamarul said MTUC hopes that the government will assist the affected riders.
"The riders are only fighting for their rights as workers. Give them what they deserve. I don't think they are asking for the moon and stars, or to get rich. They just want to get paid a little extra for their hard work to feed and support their families," he said.