SUNGAI PETANI: The Social Security Organisation (Socso) is discussing with e-hailing and p-hailing companies to get their drivers and riders to sign up for the Self-Employed Social Security Scheme Act (SKSPS).
Socso Group chief executive officer Datuk Seri Dr Mohammed Azman Aziz Mohammed said the situation was alarming since out of over 700,000 active gig workers in the country, less than 30 per cent of them had signed up under the scheme.
"I wish to stress that p-hailing riders and e-hailing drivers should learn the lesson from the Elmina plane crash incident, because we can't predict the future.
"There are 700,704 active riders and drivers active but only 208,818 or 29.8 per cent of them have signed up and making active contribution under the scheme.
"I wish to urge them to register and contribute under the scheme as the government is subsidising 80 per cent of the contribution amount worth RM186.20 while the self-employed workers just have to pay 20 per cent which is RM46.60 for a 12-month social protection benefit.
"It is not just for the workers but also to protect their family in the event something happens to them. In Hafiz's case, for example, his parents and youngest sibling are entitled for the benefits," Azman told reporters after presenting funeral benefit to the family of delivery rider Muhammad Hafiz Mohd Salleh, 32, who was killed in the plane crash tragedy near Elmina, Shah Alam, on Aug 17.
During the visit today, Azman presented a one-off RM2,000 funeral allowance to Hafiz's father Mohd Salleh Othman, 57, at their home in Taman Sidam Kiri here. Also present were Hafiz's mother Jamilah Ismail, 53, and his sister Norhikmah, 26.
Azman said Hafiz's parents and youngest sibling would be getting a combined monthly pension of RM1,894.75 from the victim's contributions under the SKSPS scheme and a separate scheme when he was employed with a logistic company prior shifting to work as a full-time delivery rider.
Between January and August 2923, Socso has approved 3,112 cases of benefit claims under SKSPS scheme involving RM16.98 million as compared to 4,383 cases with total payment amount of RM14.3 million throughout last year.
Azman said he was saddened upon learning that Grab driver Sharipuddin Shaari, 53, who was also killed in the incident, did not sign up under the scheme.
"I am very sad upon learning that the deceased did not contribute with Socso, hence we can't make any payment for his family. His case is a clear example on how the family members of a deceased are not entitled for such benefit," he said.
Commenting further, Azman said that he had held a discussion with delivery service provider Grab recently to find a workable mechanism to facilitate the process of registering their riders and drivers under the SKSPS Scheme.
"We have a good cooperation with e-hailing and p-hailing companies but we need to strengthen the collaboration to find a mechanism to simply the contribution process.
"We do understand that it might be a hassle for the workers to pay the contribution on their own, so we will work with companies to come up with the best way to sign them under the scheme," he said.
