In the midst of Vietnam’s recent heat wave, users using the Grab app to get food or a ride found they’d have to pay an additional fee.
Several months after the Southeast Asian platform firm announced a rainy-weather tax in Vietnam, an additional fee was imposed when the local temperature exceeded 35 degrees Celsius.
“Working under such bad weather conditions can be tough on our driver- and delivery partners. We want to ensure they are fairly compensated for it,” according to the Thomson Reuters Foundation, a Grab spokesperson released a statement.
Grab’s motorcycle taxi, food, and grocery deliveries, and quick delivery services cost 5,000 Vietnamese dongs ($0.21) each in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, while the 3,000 dong fee is waived in those cities.
A Grab driver in Ho Chi Minh City named Nguyen Tuan said the extra compensation gave him and his colleagues motivation to work in any weather.
“If I don’t work, where do I get money to eat? I make a living day by day,” Tuan, a food-delivery and motorcycle-taxi driver, says he works several hours a day.
Delivery and ride-hailing platforms are increasingly being scrutinized for the climate-warming emissions they produce as a result of traffic congestion and the packaging they use.
In contrast, little attention has been paid to the challenges faced by riders and drivers in extreme weather, as they often work long shifts, wait for orders on street corners, or have limited access to medical care.
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