Chinese food delivery giant Ele.me apologises for setting drivers ‘impossible’ targets for Lunar New Year bonuses
- The platform had offered a series of incentives for couriers to stay put over the country’s busiest holiday to curb the spread of Covid-19
- But many drivers complained that the targets they had to meet to qualify for extra cash were unrealistic
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Chinese food delivery giant Ele.me has apologised after its couriers accused the platform of setting impossible targets for holiday bonus pay.
The company had tried to incentivise its couriers to stay put and continue working over Lunar New Year as the government sought to discourage travel to curb the spread of Covid-19.
Under its system of incentives, the company offered rewards for completing a set number of deliveries over seven different phases starting on January 11 and running until the end of the month. Drivers receive extra cash if they hit the target for three of the seven-day periods and could make 8,200 yuan ($1,264) if they complete the full set.
But couriers have complained that the targets were impossible to reach.
A rider surnamed Si told The Beijing News that the sixth phase began during the holidays when many shops were not open.
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“You need to complete 380 deliveries, but I only got 23 deliveries in more than eight hours,” he said.
Another rider said he had worked from 6am until midnight and only got 70 orders.
Ele.me said it will re-examine the reward system after it triggered a public backlash.
“We have made wrongful estimates that led to slightly higher targets in some cities in our sixth phase (February 15 to 21), here we sincerely apologise to our courier friends,” Ele.me announced on the social media platform Weibo on Friday.
It said it will compensate its couriers after the sixth phase finishes on Sunday, and change the last phase, so that more couriers can get rewards.
A regional director from Fengniao Zhongbao, Ele.me’s crowdsourced on-demand logistics service, told The Beijing News that about 25 per cent of riders would have been able to complete the task before the new rewards system came into force.
But many web users did not buy into Ele.me’s apology and expressed scepticism that it would improve working conditions for the couriers.
“For you, 8,200 yuan may be half a month’s salary, but for the couriers, they had to earn it with massive deliveries at the expense of not going home this year,” one comment said. “This is disgusting.”
“Why can’t you just raise their compensation in general during the holidays?” another asked.
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Founded in 2008, Ele.me is one of the two largest food delivery platforms in China. It was acquired by e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding, which also owns the South China Morning Post, in 2018.
Ele.me has been repeatedly criticised for its relentless pursuit of productivity and profit at the expense of its couriers.
