M’sia-registered motorbike spotted making Grab and foodpanda deliveries in Newton area

SINGAPORE: A Malaysian-registered motorcycle seen making food deliveries for Grab and foodpanda at a Balmoral Road condominium has stirred concerns among residents, raising fresh questions about illegal foreign food delivery riders operating in Singapore.

The incident, which occurred on May 4 at around 7 p.m., was captured on video and shared with citizen journalism site Stomp by several condo residents.

“I’m submitting this video on behalf of a food delivery rider who captured it,” said one resident, “The video shows a Malaysian motorcycle carrying Grabfood and foodpanda food delivery orders.”

She added, “We believe the Malaysian motorcyclist was delivering those food orders and thus was doing something illegal.”

The sighting has reignited worries about foreigners without valid work passes taking up gig work in Singapore’s tightly regulated labour market. Concerns over such practices were previously raised in Parliament in October 2024.

In response to a parliamentary question, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) had said it was aware of the issue and had been working with food delivery platforms to tackle the problem. “MOM has worked with food delivery platform operators to advise riders against allowing foreigners to use or share their food delivery accounts,” the ministry said in a written reply.

The ministry added that platform operators have been urged to enhance their account verification processes to prevent misuse by unauthorised parties. “Working through platform operators is more effective and efficient than conducting proactive inspection, given the decentralised and mobile nature of food delivery work,” the MOM said.

Between January and June 2024, MOM received 14 complaints related to suspected illegal foreign riders. Of those, only one case resulted in enforcement action, with the remaining found to be unsubstantiated.

Last November, four foreigners were charged with working illegally as food delivery riders without valid work passes. Under Singaporean law, such offences can result in fines of up to $20,000, imprisonment of up to two years, or both.