is family and reportedly assisted with the insurance claim. In its elusive quest for profitability, Grab Food constantly alludes to its increasing efficiency and shortened delivery times, enabled by technology that is helping it fight the good fight – and win handily – against FoodPanda, Line Man and other competitors in the region. The technology increases driver productivity and earning capacity, for example with better routing and reduced driver wait times at kitchens. In the final quarter of 2022 (the latest reporting period), the company stated that driver wait time was down by 27 per cent on a year ago, propelling a 13 per cent improvement in driver productivity, as measured by earnings per transit hour. In lay terms, by ensuring their drivers don’t have to while away more than a few minutes at restaurants where they are picking up their orders, and giving them the optimal routes to their customers, the company can set razor-sharp delivery times. This raises customer expectations and generates repeat orders. Asia’s Evel Knievels But there is a serious catch that goes unmentioned in company presentations. Even five minutes on the road of any Southeast Asian city that Grab and its competitors service reveals that the cost of getting dinner to people so quickly in their homes and offices, with such small commissions for the drivers, is a lot more than what is on the customer’s bill. Drivers of two-wheelers are getting into all kinds of scrapes to meet the tight scheduling and earn enough for a decent living, including traffic violations and accidents involving speeding, running red lights, lane-weaving, passing illegally, driving on footpaths and driving on the wrong side of the road. Statistics are rarely compiled about how many violations and accidents occur in the name of rapid meal delivery; neither the police, nor the relevant government ministries and statistical agencies, nor the companies themselves appear to track them. But all indications are that the numbers are high. For example, a survey of 1,002 delivery drivers in July-August 2022 by the Institute of Policy Studies at the National University of Singapore found that more than one in three who worked more than 50 hours a week (by no means an uncommon work week) had been in an accident on the job. Also, 9 per cent had been in two accidents and 7 per cent had been in three or more. In Bangalore, India, the police reported that violations by online delivery platforms and ride-hailing services combined in the three years from 2020-22 amounted to an imposing 154,000. The three leading offenders were Zomato (72,000 cases), Bounce (10,338 cases) and Ola (9,469 cases). The fines amounted to about $840,000. The police didn’t mind whether the platform or the driver paid the fines, although the violations were recorded against the drivers. Although the Thai Government doesn’t compile statistics, Thailand may well be worse. A 2021 survey of food delivery drivers in that country, conducted by Rocket Media Lab, found that an incredible 28 per cent of the respondents had been in more than five crashes and two-thirds had been in one-to-four accidents. Note that in 2021, when tourism and economic activity generally were subdued because of Covid-19, the roads were relatively uncongested and negotiating them was relatively easy. Now that activity has normalised, the congestion is back, the roads are choked with traffic and if you are a food delivery driver trying to meet the same schedule, it’s necessary to take more risks. Of course, this not only places the drivers themselves at risk. Media reports usually just focus on the safety of the delivery drivers themselves and the risks they take, and fail to acknowledge that their driving risks the lives of others with whom they are supposedly sharing the road. The delivery companies themselves are not that helpful. Grab refers to its drivers as ‘driver partners’, thus subtly distancing itself from responsibility for their welfare. The company’s financial results have been getting better and the last thing it wants to do is draw attention to the plight of those who are behind the improvement. In the last quarter, it reported a 14 per cent increase in users, 112 per cent increase in revenue and 27 per cent increase in gross merchandise value on the same quarter a year ago. For the whole year, its loss was about halved, from $3.6 billion to $1.7 billion. In its deliveries business, Grab enjoyed higher commissions from vendors, rising from 18.2 per cent to 23.8 per cent of GMV. Shifting the onus from the drivers to the platform A recent study of online food delivery in China noted that the Chinese Government, alarmed by the number of traffic accidents involving food delivery drivers, decided to impose additional penalties on them in the event they were in an accident. It didn’t change a thing and the mishaps kept coming. This raised the question of whether it would be more effective to punish the platforms for which the drivers worked. The study’s researchers concluded that the platforms should be penalised for incidents involving their drivers, which would incentivise them to prescribe longer delivery times and take the pressure off drivers to do stupid things. There is, of course, a complementary solution: pay the drivers higher commissions on each delivery while relaxing delivery times. There is always the possibility of tips but on the other hand they might have to put up with abuse if there is a stuff-up in the order or, as often happens, they attempt to deliver to the wrong location because of imprecise GPS systems. It’s time for the companies to assume some financial responsibility and make the roads safer for everyone, includingtheir drivers.