Today, ride-hailing firm Gojek announced that it has inked a strategic partnership with Singapore-based insurtech company Gigacover to launch an insurance scheme that’ll cover all its drivers.
The scheme will give Gojek drivers a standard earnings protection coverage of $80 per day, and drivers would simply need to pay a single, subsidised monthly rate to Gigacover to enjoy the benefits. This means that on days that drivers can’t drive (due to illness or hospitalisation), they’ll still be paid $80.
Top active Gojek drivers will get to enjoy free coverage paid for by Gojek on a quarterly basis. These drivers are defined as those who “complete the most number of trips in a quarter”.
This new scheme will cover also cover drivers for medical leave for up to 21 days and hospitalisation leave of up to 84 days. This is said to be “the most extensive earning protection coverage offered to private-hire drivers in Singapore” currently.
Last month, rival Grab announced that it would be offering “the majority of its drivers” free insurance coverage which would protect them from loss of earnings due to illness and injuries.
Drivers in the top 3 tiers of Grab’s rewards programme would be guaranteed a daily payout pegged to a percentage of their average daily earnings, and a ballpark figure of “between $30 and $200 a day” was given.
Gojek’s new scheme is said to be in line with the recommendation by the Tripartite Workgroup on Self-Employed Persons for insurance that will cover the loss of 2 income due to prolonged illness or injury.
Said Lien Choong Luen, general manager of Gojek Singapore: “Gojek’s partnership with Gigacover is designed to provide peace of mind for our driver-partners, so that they can focus on their work without worries. We are thankful to our driver-partners who have stayed with us since we launched our beta ride-hailing service. We humbly ask for their support as we continually improve to do better for them.”
This partnership is the first of many initiatives we are launching to boost the well-being of our driver-partners. It also comes as part of our efforts to partner with local companies so that we can all grow together.
Added a spokesperson from the Ministry of Manpower: “We welcome the growing support among transport operators to protect their self-employed drivers. We hope to see even more operators also stepping forward to offer such insurance to self-employed persons they contract with.”
The earnings protection scheme will take effect from 1 Apr 2019, and more details will be announced in due course.