3 foreigners fined for illegally working as food delivery riders in Singapore
The three foreigners were fined between $3,800 and $10,000 for food delivery work without valid work passes.
Nisha Rahim
·News and Lifestyle Producer
Updated Wed, 11 October 2023 at 7:12 pm SGT·2-min read
Foreign food delivery trio hit with fines for working without valid work passes in Singapore. (PHOTO: Getty Images)
SINGAPORE— Three foreigners were fined on Tuesday for illegally working as food delivery riders in Singapore without valid work passes.
In a statement on Wednesday (11 Oct), the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) also said that two other individuals, a Singaporean and a permanent resident (PR), have also been fined for abetting illegal activities by providing the foreigners with access to food delivery platforms.
Currently, only citizens and PRs are legally allowed to work as food delivery riders in Singapore.
How much were the foreign nationals fined for working as food delivery riders?
Ng Teik Chuan, a Malaysian national, was fined $10,000 for working as a food delivery rider on the MilkRun and LiveExpress platforms from May 2022 to March 2023.
According to the MOM, the 36-year-old had earned around $17,000 before being caught by ministry officers during a delivery in March.
In the same month, Indian national Amanullah Faizal Navas, 37, borrowed the Foodpanda account of Singaporean Muhammad Mubeen Muthibbi Sahul Hameed.
Mubeen, 47, shared his login information with Amanullah, enabling him to access the Foodpanda platform using his facial recognition.
Both individuals were fined $3,800 each.
According to The Straits Times, Amanullah, who had been working in Singapore for 12 years, was between jobs and discontinued his food delivery work after public intervention.
He did not withdraw his earnings of $540 from Mubeen's account.
Meanwhile, a third foreign individual, Chaw Soon Yaw, 28, used his brother's Deliveroo account from December 2022 to March 2023. His brother, Soon Song, a 23-year-old PR, was also fined $5,000.
On 10 March, Soon Yaw, a cook in Singapore, discovered that his brother's Deliveroo account had been suspended after a member of the public alerted him to the illegality of foreign workers in the food delivery sector, reported The Straits Times.
By that time, Soon Yaw had earned more than $2,000 as a rider.
MOM takes action to curb unauthorised food delivery work by foreign nationals
In September, the MOM announced its ongoing efforts to collaborate with major food delivery platforms to strengthen account security and prevent unauthorised use by non-eligible individuals.Foreigners who are self-employed without a valid work pass can face imprisonment of up to two years, fines of up to $20,000, or both.
Upon conviction, they are permanently barred from working in Singapore. Local delivery platform workers who enable foreigners to use their accounts may also face similar penalties.
