A $7 million grant has been introduced to help food delivery riders replace their electric scooters, after the Government banned the devices from footpaths earlier this week.
The Ministry of Transport (MOT) on Friday (8 November) said the Government and three major food delivery companies set up this e-scooter Trade-in Grant for affected delivery riders to switch to bicycles, power-assisted bicycles or personal mobility aids.
Riders can begin to trade in their e-scooters from next Friday.
The move comes in response to many food delivery riders raising their concerns over the footpath ban affecting their livelihoods. There are about 7,000 food delivery riders who use e-scooters, and groups of them have been meeting MPs since the ban took effect on Tuesday.
Grab, Deliveroo and Foodpanda will administer the new grant scheme, said the authorities, adding that they are also working with retailers to bulk purchase and bring down costs of these devices.
They will have to surrender their e-scooters at disposal points located at Grab, Deliveroo and Foodpanda premises.
The grant is one component of what MOT and LTA said was a transition assistance package to help affected riders.
NTUC's Employment and Employability Institute (e2i) and Workforce Singapore (WSG) are working with the three food delivery companies to provide career services and job search support under the Adapt and Grow initiative, for riders who want to look for other jobs, MOT said in its statement.
Riders who may have immediate financial difficulties can seek temporary financial help from the Ministry of Social and Family Development's (MSF) and ComCare schemes, MOT said.
"Even as the delivery riders switch to other modes of transport, they should be mindful of safety both for themselves and other path and road users," the ministry added.
The footpath ban, announced in Parliament on Monday, is the latest and toughest measure yet to address public safety concerns surrounding the use of e-scooters.
Those caught flouting the rules can be fined up to $2,000 and/or jailed for up to three months if convicted. From now until the end of the year, the authorities will mainly issue warnings to errant riders, but a zero-tolerance approach will be taken from next year.
After meeting about 50 riders at his Meet-the-People Session in Jurong Spring on Thursday night, Minister for Social and Family Development Desmond Lee said their concerns are 'genuine Singaporean concerns'.
There were also several PMD retailers present who delivered a letter of their own, asking for more shared paths and for PMDs to be allowed on roads.
Meanwhile, about 30 riders met Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam on Tuesday.
The Nee Soon GRC MP said after the meeting that he understood their position, and would convey their views to the Transport Ministry and the Cabinet.
