Grab and other e-hailing services should provide Socso to their drivers: Kulasegaran

PUTRAJAYA: Human Resource Minister M. Kulasegaran has recomended e-hailing service provider Grab ensure that it provides Social Security Organisation (Socso) contribution for its drivers.
Kulasegaran suggested this after Socso learnt that the late Grab driver, Aiman Nosri, 27, had no record of Socso contributions being made.
"I am very sympathetic to the victim's family, it is a pity for them because they did not get any benefits under the Socso scheme even though he died while working.
"In fact, our checks revealed as of April, there are only about 4,231 taxi drivers including those in the e-hailing services from a total of 90,000 drivers who contribute to Socso," he told reporters after launching the Malaysia Commuting Accident and Road Safety Seminar here.
Commenting further, Kulasegaran said the law requires every employer to make Socso contributions to ensure the welfare of every employee is taken care of.
"The government does not emphasise on the enforcement aspect of that law as it wants to be more business-friendly and does not want employers to be in a position where they are forced to do it.
"The contribution per worker is not much, it is only about RM15 a month or RM150 a year. In this regard, employers are encouraged to register their employees for Socso benefit, as they have been working hard," he added.
Socso chief executive officer Datuk Seri Dr Mohammed Azman Aziz Mohammed said Socso had attempted to meet those at Grab to assist drivers to register under the Socso scheme but that failed to materialise.
"A scheduled meeting with the Grab CEO has been postponed twice. I hope that we are able to meet Grab in the near future to sort this matter out," he said.
Aiman had been found dead with strangulation marks on the neck in his Perodua Myvi car at the parking lot in Taman Selayang Makmur, Kuala Lumpur on Saturday night.
On another matter, Kulasegaran said Socso issues between RM600 million to RM800 million in compensation payments to employees involved in commuting accidents.

Deaths due to commuting accidents in the country are among the highest in the world, Kulasegaran said, adding there was a 75% increase in commuting accidents from 2008 to 2017.
"The number of deaths in Malaysia from commuting accidents was 25 in 100,000 compared to four in 100,000 in Germany," he said.
When asked on why Germany could have a lesser death rate despite a bigger population, he stated that the European country possessed a much more advanced transport system.
"Last year, Socso received 69,980 accident reports, of which 47% were commuting accidents.
"From it, there were 667 deaths due to commuting accidents compared to 257 fatalities caused by industrial incidents," he said.
Meanwhile, Kulasegaran said that there were 11,227 applications for the Employment Insurance Scheme (EIS) since its inception last year, with 8,000 approved.
Under the EIS scheme, a contribution of 0.2% is borne by the employer with 0.2% from the worker.