As infection controls are relaxed and eateries are seeing more customers return to dining on-site, the delivery riders said that their earnings have taken a beating, possibly also due to the fewer meals that people are taking in the day during the ongoing Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.
One rider, who wanted to be known only as Mr Zhang said:"The number of orders I get has gone down, but mostly because of Ramadan, since Muslims are fasting. The easing of rules has been less than a month, but I've felt the number of orders slowing down even before that." Most food delivery riders interviewed by TODAY have seen a major loss in earnings, especially the ones working full-time.
The food delivery riders told TODAY that they have had to find means of coping with the losses, which may mean cutting back on their spending or taking on other deliveries besides food."At least for Grab, there are other options like GrabExpress. So I'll do deliveries for parcels if I don't receive any GrabFood orders."
Several riders also told TODAY that they may consider switching jobs if the lack of demand continues to persist.