Man fined for allowing foreigner to illegally use his Foodpanda, Deliveroo accounts to deliver food

SINGAPORE: A Singaporean man signed up to deliver food for Foodpanda and Deliveroo but allowed a Malaysian man to do the jobs instead, splitting the cash with him and a middleman.

Despite knowing that Malaysians cannot sign up for the accounts in Singapore, Reno Nasori aided the foreigner in working as a food delivery rider without a valid work pass.

Reno, 34, was fined S$5,000 on Thursday (Mar 19) for the offence of abetting the Malaysian in self-employment without a valid work pass.

The court heard that Reno registered for a delivery account under Foodpanda in December 2018 and delivered food on a part-time basis.

After a few months of doing so, he met a woman known only as Nor Afidah and helped her to register an account under Foodpanda.

He gave Nor Afidah his login details and she used his account to carry out deliveries, said Ministry of Manpower (MOM) prosecutor Jason Chua.

The earnings were credited into Reno’s bank account and he split the cash with her. 

Later, he registered two more accounts under Foodpanda and another two accounts under Deliveroo and gave the login details to Nor Afidah at her request.

READ: Illegal foreign delivery riders: Food delivery companies enforce stringent rules

PAIR SET UP ARRANGEMENT, LOOPING IN MORE RIDERS

They set up an arrangement for these accounts – with Reno booking time slots every week for both food delivery companies and passing the information to Nor Afidah.

Nor Afidah assigned riders to each account, paying them S$6 to S$6.50, for at least two deliveries in an hour.

For two deliveries made in an hour, Reno received S$12 to S$13 from Foodpanda and Deliveroo and earned S$2 to S$3 per hour for each rider.

From early April 2019 to May 2019, Reno earned about S$500, court documents said.

Sometime in April 2019, Malaysian Daeng Muhammad Wafiq Aminuldin came across a post on Facebook by Nor Afidah, advertising a job vacancy as a food delivery rider.

The advertisement stated that the rider would work four days a week delivering food for Foodpanda and be paid S$10 an hour.

Wafiq took up the job on Apr 29 last year, liaising with both Nor Afidah and Reno, with Reno listed as “the boss”.

Foodpanda accepts only applicants who are Singaporeans or Singapore permanent residents, the prosecutor said.

Reno knew that Malaysians could not sign up for the accounts in Singapore, but allowed Wafiq to use his accounts by giving him the login details.

Wafiq had access to two accounts each from Foodpanda and Deliveroo, but used only one account, stationing himself at Ang Mo Kio Hub, Toa Payoh and Upper Thomson Road.

He worked about 12 hours a day, performing about 24 deliveries per day and receiving S$450 in cash from Reno for work done between Apr 29, 2019 and May 7, 2019.

MOM RECEIVES TIP-OFF, INVESTIGATES

MOM received information of possible contravention of the laws under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act and carried out investigations on Apr 25, 2019.

Investigations found that Wafiq had only a social visit pass and was not allowed to work in Singapore. He was previously convicted in court and fined S$3,000 for his role.

MOM prosecutor Jason Chua on Thursday asked for a fine of about S$6,000 for Reno, saying that Reno’s culpability was higher than Wafiq as he knowingly entered into an arrangement and profited from it.

More offences would have been committed had the scheme not been detected, said Mr Chua.

He added that Reno has previously committed traffic offences and offences under the Women’s Charter.

Reno, who was unrepresented, pleaded for leniency saying he had three children to support and was the family’s sole breadwinner.

He could have been jailed for up to two years, fined a maximum of S$20,000, or both. Court documents did not indicate if any action has been taken yet against Nor Afidah.