foodpanda Malaysia riders have cause for celebration.
That’s because foodpanda and the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) today as part of its Panda Hearts Programme aimed at uplifting and supporting delivery partners.
This marks a significant milestone for the brand in providing financial security and benefits to the online platform’s delivery partners.
With over 50,000 gig workers as delivery partners, foodpanda stated in its press release that the platform recognises the importance of financial stability for its partners.
This MoU enables foodpanda’s delivery partners to contribute monthly to their EPF accounts through the i-Saraan programme. For context, i-Saraan is a voluntary retirement savings programme for self‑employed workers.
According to EPF’s website, the programme also provides a number of benefits, such as:
- Special incentives of up to 15% for the total contribution up to a maximum of RM500 for the current year
- Annual dividends on top of retirement savings
- Tax relief
- Death assistance
The MoU was signed by EPF’s Chief Operating Oficer, Sazaliza Zainuddin, and foodpanda Malaysia’s Director of Operations, Shubham Saran. The main goal of this is to improve retirement planning and savings amongst its delivery partners.
Shubham Saran also stated, “Our delivery partners play an integral role in our ecosystem. As part of our Panda Hearts initiative, we are continuing to improve what we’re doing to enhance their delivery experience. We aim to provide our delivery partners with the resources and support they need to thrive in their roles.”
Part of this collaboration with EPF includes educating delivery partners on the importance and ease of savings for retirement via EPF.
Both parties will conduct talks on retirement and financial planning as well as assist delivery partners in registering and setting up their EPF accounts. There will be registration counters set up nationwide.
Aside from that, there will also be on-ground activations, engagements with rider influencers, and other initiatives to raise awareness on this.
foodpanda will also implement a new system that allows delivery partners to opt in for automatic contributions to their EPF accounts. This is similar to the initiatives launched by other platforms with gig workers like GoGet and Grab.
Saran added, “We look forward to continuing our partnership with EPF to introduce more benefits to delivery partners in the future. We encourage all our delivery partners to sign up and start saving today.”
Featured Image Credit: foodpanda
