On 23rd March, a lockdown was imposed all over Sindh to curb the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19), financially affecting the lives of daily wagers. Areas where people accumulate including offices, public transport and other gathering places have been shut down, along with the services of online delivery platforms, with foodpanda being the prime example. During times like these, the food delivery platform takes a stand for its heroes by providing them with health, safety and financial support, to ensure their well-being.
For the first time in Pakistan, foodpanda has transferred earning assistance to heroes to cover their basic expenses during the halt of operations in cities, during the lockdown. Amidst COVID-19, the food delivery platform ensures to create awareness about the virus amongst the heroes by constantly sending them educational messages and prompts to stay cautious. These awareness measures include infographics at rider hubs and social media assets to educate the riders about its levels of severity.
As an extra precautionary measure, an extra highly detailed infographic has been put up on rider hubs which instructs them to abide by the laws under Section 144, with handshakes and physical proximity being the core reasons for the spread of Coronavirus. As a constant reminder, the riders also get a message from the company, thanking them for their services during such a crucial time along with a highly detailed infographic that showcases the preventive measures for the pandemic. Daily temperature checks at rider hubs have now become an integral part of a hero’s job, before starting his shift. Also, to act as a safety measure a complete guide has been integrated on the foodpanda app to support contact less deliveries.
Ever since the outbreak, foodpanda has dispatched hand sanitizers to their heroes on-board and continues to actively distribute face masks and gloves to their heroes. foodpanda kept the heroes motivated by paying them a higher amount of what they earned per order previously. This step was taken in order to cover the financial loss borne by the heroes during the lockdown. If a hero is tested positive for COVID-19, he will be granted a paid leave as part of the newly launched ‘two weeks earning support programme’ to ensure his financial stability. If a case arises where a hero is hospitalized, his insurance will cover his daily expenses on a daily basis
Considering the rapid spread of the pandemic, the food delivery platform takes numerous measures to stand by their heroes, with the motive to help them tackle the virus by all means. One of major concerns for daily wagers is financial stability which isn’t a concern anymore for foodpanda heroes since their company has got them covered. Pakistan’s largest online food delivery platform works day and night to shield their heroes from the novel Coronavirus, assuring them that #foodpandacares.
