FOR the past seven years, Mohd Adam Muharin’s job as an e-hailing driver gave him the freedom to be his own boss while putting food on the table for his family.

But later this year, the 36-year-old is trading his gig for a fixed monthly income, retirement funds, social security protection and the peace of mind that comes with a 9-to-5 job.

In his long experience with e-hailing platform Grab Malaysia and 16 years as a taxi driver before that, Adam said this is the worst year he’s ever experienced.

“The problem is that people are genuinely afraid to come into a car that’s already been used by strangers for fear of getting infected by the deadly Covid-19.

“Also, more people are working from home and they go to office once a week, so that also reduces the number of passengers,” Adam told The Malaysian Insight while waiting for a reservation in Shah Alam, Selangor.

His experience mirrors that of other e-hailing drivers in the Klang Valley, Perak and Borneo – one of the biggest gig economy sectors in Malaysia that has become a lifeline for those who lost their fixed salary jobs.  

Riders for food-delivery platforms, another popular income source for young Malay men, are also complaining that there is a drop in orders ever since the lockdown was eased in June.

This then coincided with a rise in new recruits as more were retrenched during the MCO.

Food Panda told The Malaysian Insight that between March and July, 20,000 new riders joined its fleet.

Grab Malaysia said 10,000 new e-hailing drivers and delivery partners joined the company between March and May.

In The Malaysian Insight survey of 10 drivers, all except two saw a sharp plunge in their income – some by 50% - even after the economy was reopened under the recovery movement-control order (RMCO).  

Just like Adam, Grab driver Andy Alistair in Kuching, Sarawak, is switching from taking passengers to transporting food and goods.

The resurgence of Covid-19 cases in Kuching has battered confidence in public transportation and hired vehicles such as e-hailing and taxis.

“When the MCO was imposed in March, my earnings dropped by about 70%. Even now in the RMCO, it’s still hard to make money. People are not going out, they are scared,” said the 57-year-old.  

“Before the pandemic, I could make between RM250 and RM300 a day. Now making RM50 is a challenge.

“Drivers are also becoming paranoid. Many of us have migrated to doing food and express deliveries, which is safer with minimal human contact.”

P. Barath has been an e-hailing driver for three years in Ipoh and in that time, he has seen a steady increase in drivers.

Although this increased the competition for bookings, there were still enough passengers in the city to earn a net income of RM120 to RM150 per day before the Covid-19 pandemic.

Even though he’s working longer hours now, the 30-year-old is only able to make between RM50 and RM80 a day.

“I am working more hours to earn more money but it’s hard because there are many drivers competing with a smaller number of bookings. Even after the MCO, people are still not coming out.”

Shrinking pie

E-hailing drivers received RM500 from Putrajaya as aid when the MCO shut down most of the economy from March 18 to May 12, reducing the number of passengers.

Food delivery was among those sectors that grew during the MCO to feed those quarantined at home.

During the MCO, Abdul Hadi Abdul Hamid earned up to RM200 per day in gross income delivering food in the Klang Valley for Grab Malaysia.

But today, the same seven hours per day only nets him more than RM100.

“It’s hard to get RM200 after the MCO but I’m still grateful for what I make,” said the 22-year-old who was retrenched when his factory closed.    

Hadi’s colleague Zayd Syed Ahmad said he only experienced a slight drop in his income during and after the MCO.

“We get paid according to distance travelled. The further we go, the more we earn. The drop in income I’ve noticed is not that big,” said the 19-year-old part-time rider who is an Islamic finance student.  

Riders for Food Panda echoed the observations of Grab Malaysia riders about the surge in orders during the MCO but said there are fewer orders during the RMCO.

Nik Fauzi Hanif made between RM90 and RM120 a day during the MCO but said this has dropped sharply to RM50 to RM60 during the RMCO.

“During the MCO, orders came in just as you finished deliveries. But these days, sometimes we could wait for one hour just to see an order,” said Nik Fauzi, who operates in Shah Alam.

“And the number of riders is increasing every day. We see new ones being added to the platform but the number of food orders is the same, or has reduced as people can now go out again to either eat or order takeaway themselves,” said the 46-year-old.

An independent despatch rider, Muhamad Irfan Nafis Mohmad Rafizi, said that times are becoming harder as more millennials like him sign on to either Food Panda or Grab Malaysia even in a small state like Perlis.

Irfan makes between RM3 and RM6 delivering either food or goods from street hawkers and merchants he knows that are too small to get on digital platforms.

“Before the MCO I made about RM40 per day, this dropped to RM20 during the MCO. But after the MCO, I can make between RM30 and RM50 per day. But it’s tough now.

“I have to compete against more runners and riders. Nowadays, there are all kinds of platforms and apps,” said the 21-year-old from Kangar.

Food Panda rider Nik Fauzi said the rise in other competing food-delivery platforms such as Bungkusit, Easyeats and Lalamove, is eating into the incomes of his colleagues even in the densely populated Klang Valley.

“With more riders, the share of the pie gets smaller because it is not growing as fast as the number of riders.” – August 10, 2020.