The group gathered at Padang Bandaran in the city centre here from 8am to 2pm, refusing to work for the day. They threatened another strike tomorrow, with the possibility of riders in other states doing likewise, if the company did not restore the previous system.

Foodpanda’s new payment scheme, beginning on Monday, would boost the income of all its riders outside the Klang Valley, according to a company announcement on Saturday.

However, a spokesman for the protesters, Erwin Omar, said riders now get a bigger payment of RM7 on each order, but are not paid for the hours that they work. In the old scheme, they received RM5 per order, and RM4 for each working hour, and an extra RM1 for each working hour on Saturday and Sunday.

The payment ranged from RM5 to RM3 in a heirarchy of Batch 1-5, while in the new scheme, the payment ranges between RM7 and RM4.50 for Batches 1 to 6.

“We could earn between RM1,000 and RM1,400 a week under the old system but much less in the new one: we can only get between RM396 and RM630 for 30 hours of work,” he said.

New riders would get less because they form the lowest batch… this is unfair to us,” said Erwin, who started working with Foodpanda in June.

There was also a new incentive of RM100 for completing 60 working hours but in the old system they would have got RM240 at RM4 per hour, “so we have lost RM140 with this new one.”

Shifts had also been reduced. The weekly roster could only accommodate between 200 and 300 riders of the estimated 500 in KK. “How about the rest? If they can’t get jobs, then how can they get paid?” Erwin said.

Riders are also alloted only three hours at most in the current roster. “How many orders can we complete in that time?” he said.

Erwin said the riders were merely voicing their rights “as riders who do our best to deliver food to customers, sometimes at the risk of our own safety.”

He said they might look for other jobs if conditions do not improve.

FMT is seeking a response from Foodpanda officials.