HO CHI MINH CITY/BANGKOK: As a heatwave engulfed northern and central Vietnam earlier this month, clients reaching for their phones to order foods or a ride to the Grab app learned they would have to pay a surcharge.
The extra fee, applied when the local heat range hits 35 degrees Celsius, came a few months after the Southeast Hard anodized cookware platform company presented a rainy-weather charge in Vietnam.
“Working under such bad weather conditions can be tough on our driver- and delivery-partners. We would like to ensure they are pretty compensated for it, ” a Grab spokesperson told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
In Hanoi plus Ho Chi Minh City, the surcharge is 5, 1000 Vietnamese dong (US$0. 21) for Grab’s motorcycle taxi, and food and grocery transport, and 3, 000 dong for its fast delivery service.
Nguyen Tuan, the Grab driver within Ho Chi Minh City, said the extra payment gave him and his colleagues a motivation, as they have to function regardless of weather conditions.
“If I shouldn’t work, where do I get money to consume? I make a living everyday, ” said Tuan, who puts in several hours a day like a food-delivery and motorcycle-taxi driver.
Platform companies offering delivery and ride-hailing solutions have come under increasing scrutiny for their planet-heating emissions linked to traffic congestion and product packaging.
But there is little discussion showing how riders and motorists are dealing with intense weather, as they frequently work long hours, waiting around at street corners and outside dining places for orders, and have limited access to medical care.
Only now is the issue starting to get the public’s attention as climate change brings more regular and intense heatwaves and floods all over the world, raising questions in regards to the health impacts for that must vulnerable within the labour force.