GrabFood unveils details of trade-in grant scheme for e-scooter delivery riders

SINGAPORE — To qualify for a grant to trade in their electric scooters for other types of mobility devices, GrabFood delivery riders must have made at least one trip between Oct 9 and Nov 7.

The e-scooters must also be registered with the Land Transport Authority (LTA). A rider must have completed at least 20 rides during this period in order to receive the full grant. If a rider completed fewer than 20 rides, he will receive 80 per cent of the grant first, while the remaining sum will be disbursed after he finishes 20 rides within 30 days after the date of submission of the claims.

Starting from Friday (Nov 15), riders can apply for the grant, and the application will be submitted to LTA at the end of each day. Within two working days after the submissions to LTA, riders will be informed whether their applications are successful and they can go ahead to buy a new mobility device. They can then trade in their e-scooters, and receive the reimbursements within one to three working days.

These details of Grab’s trade-in grant scheme — which starts from Friday — were unveiled on Tuesday on the firm’s website.

Amid a huge outcry among retailers and food-delivery riders, a nationwide S$7 million trade-in grant was first announced last week by the Government, which is working together with food delivery companies GrabFood, Foodpanda and Deliveroo to help their riders — following the Government’s ban on e-scooters from footpaths which kicked in on Nov 5.

Grab is the first among the three companies to announce details of their trade-in grant schemes.

More than one in three GrabFood delivery riders rely on e-scooters to fulfil orders. For Deliveroo, only 5 per cent of its riders use personal mobility devices including e-scooters while for Foodpanda, it is 12 per cent.

In total, there are about 7,000 food delivery riders affected by the footpath ban.

Under the schemes, riders who intend to stay on the job will receive a grant of up to S$1,000 each to switch to an electric bicycle or a personal mobility aid (PMA), and a grant of up to S$600 each to switch to a bicycle.

Grab is teaming up with five partners to allow its e-scooter riders to rent or buy bicycles. These are SG Bike, Singapore’s largest bicycle-sharing operator, as well as retailers WarehouseSG, My Bike Shop, Hello Bicycle, and Cannasia. Its riders can enjoy free rentals with SG Bike, as well as discounts with their purchases at the other retailers.

For riders who wish to buy a PMA, they would have to provide reasons as these are designed to carry people with walking difficulties.

Working with its rental partners, Grab said it is also offering “preferred leasing rates” for motorcycles

Grab added that it is “working hard” on other areas of support for its riders, including financial assistance.

Following the announcement of the ban, Grab had warned that its customers may face delays in their orders or experience more cancellations as its riders try to switch to other modes of transport.

The firm said on Tuesday that some customers and merchants have “reached out… to share their concern” about the riders’ well-being as a result of the ban. “They have also expressed understanding of the situation and will be more patient with their food orders,” Grab said.

Several GrabFood delivery riders who had turned up to Senior Minister of State (Transport and Health) Lam Pin Min's meet-the-people session on Tuesday said they were aware of the latest details put out by the firm.

However, they told TODAY that they were not keen to take up the scheme and switch to bicycle or e-bikes, as that could entail going onto the roads. 

Mr Alan Teo, 36, said: "If they care so much about pedestrian lives, then what do you think about our lives if we are on the roads beside trucks and cars?"

Mr Hazrul Azman, 29, said he would rather the authorities use the S$7 million for the scheme to upgrade public infrastructure instead.

"If it is so hard for us to share (footpaths with pedestrians), then better to give us proper paths (so that) we don't  have to share it with cars," he added. 

In response to TODAY’s queries, a Deliveroo spokesperson said that discussions with the LTA  and bike-sharing companies are “ongoing” and it is “currently working closely with all parties towards creating a partnership plan for our riders”.

TODAY has also reached out to Foodpanda. ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY NG JUN SEN