4 foreigners arrested in S'pore for doing food delivery work, 644 delivery workers checked

Four foreigners have been arrested for working illegally as food delivery riders after checks were carried out on 644 delivery workers in Singapore over the past few months.

This was after the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) ramped up enforcement operations.

More enforcement

In a Facebook post on Sep. 8, Senior Minister of State for Health and Manpower Koh Poh Koon announced that MOM recently conducted checks on another 269 delivery workers, and one foreigner was arrested for working without a valid work pass.

Earlier, 375 delivery workers were checked and three arrests were made.

MOM's operations have since covered more than 30 potential hotspots island-wide, which have been flagged up by their partners from the National Delivery Champions Association (NDCA).

A total of 644 delivery workers in the country were checked and four foreigners were arrested for working illegally over the past few months, Koh wrote.

Checks on delivery personnel of F&B restaurants and other retail businesses

Koh also revealed that MOM came across delivery riders from traditional logistics companies and in-house delivery personnel of food and beverage (F&B) restaurants and other retail businesses as part of their inspections.

Such companies are allowed to hire foreigners as their delivery personnel, if they possess valid work passes.

A total of 22 of the delivery workers checked were work pass holders, who performed deliveries for their companies, which included items such as food, documents, lab materials and eyewear.

It was discovered that some of the delivery workers used their own transport when performing the deliveries.

According to MOM, this can include foreign-registered motorcycles, which are legal.

Otherwise, only Singaporeans and permanent residents can work as delivery personnel for food delivery applications in Singapore.

MOM will continue to conduct regular checks

Koh also expressed his gratitude to local delivery riders for being cooperative in the checks, allowing them to be conducted smoothly.

He further added that the authorities "remain committed to stamping out illegal platform delivery work, as it disadvantages our local platform workers".

According to Koh, MOM will continue to collaborate with NDCA to conduct regular checks at potential hotspots.

He also urged the public to report any suspected cases of foreigners performing delivery work illegally.

Top photos via Koh Poh Koon/Facebook