Can a hot-weather fee help protect Asian gig workers languishing in sweltering heat?
- Grab app rolled out a heatwave surcharge in Vietnam to help riders, who often work long hours and have limited access to medical care, deal with extreme weather
- But critics say workers don’t benefit fully from the user fee and fear it could be used as a way to drive them to deliver under unsafe circumstances
The extra fee, applied when the local temperature hits 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit), came months after the Southeast Asian platform company introduced a rainy-weather fee in Vietnam.
“Working under such bad weather conditions can be tough on our driver- and delivery-partners. We want to ensure they are fairly compensated for it,” a Grab spokesperson said.
In Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, the surcharge is 5,000 Vietnamese dong (US$0.21) for Grab’s motorcycle taxi, and food and grocery deliveries, and 3,000 dong for its quick delivery service.
Nguyen Tuan, a Grab driver in Ho Chi Minh City, said the additional payment gave him and his colleagues an incentive, as they have to work regardless of weather conditions.
“If I don’t work, where do I get money to eat? I make a living day by day,” said Tuan, who puts in several hours a day as a food-delivery and motorcycle-taxi driver.