Researcher Nguyen Duc Loc proposed studying three policy directions for ride-hailing drivers in Vietnam: regulation, representation and redistribution of social protection funds.
Ride-hailing drivers face risks at work
Le Thi Tuyet Hoa has worked as a ride-hailing driver for more than eight years and helps provide emergency support through the Ho Chi Minh City Motorbike Taxi Drivers’ Union. She said female drivers face situations in which male passengers harass, insult, touch or even attack them.
“Once, we were asked to help a female driver who had been harassed. After we got her out, the passenger gave her a one-star rating and her account was blocked. The app operator did not contact her or check whether the rating was accurate,” Hoa said.
Pham Mi Sen, deputy chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Motorbike Taxi Drivers’ Union, has also seen such cases during 15 years of work across different services. He said drivers work under rules set by each platform, including rules on trip allocation, ratings, bonuses and operating conditions.
“For more than 10 years, drivers have seen these disadvantages, but they have had to follow a predetermined path to earn enough to support their families,” Pham Mi Sen said.
He said better information exchange between drivers and platforms could make the rules clearer and provide another channel for reporting and resolving problems that arise at work.
Le Tan Luu, chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Motorbike Taxi Drivers’ Union, said drivers’ work is shaped by trip allocation, fares, platform commissions and account conditions. He proposed that platforms explain their operating rules more clearly and create a suitable way to discuss issues raised by drivers. In his view, companies have the right to make business decisions but should explain their basis and respond to workers’ concerns.
Policy should reflect the nature of platform work
Nguyen Duc Loc, director of the Institute for Social Life Studies, said SocialLife has studied employment and income among ride-hailing drivers in Ho Chi Minh City since 2020.
He said platform work differs from traditional employment relationships. Some drivers are not fully covered by insurance programmes, while income and working hours fluctuate.
Policy development should address three questions, he said: how to identify the working relationship, how to provide representation and how to extend social protection to this group of workers.
When identifying the status of the relationship, policymakers should examine its substance as well as the form of the agreement. This would support research into applying social insurance rules to cases involving payment, management, direction and supervision.
Representation is another issue. Drivers work in a dispersed way, have no fixed workplace and may use several platforms at the same time. This calls for research into forms of representation that fit their work better.
According to Loc, a suitable mechanism would allow drivers, platforms and state agencies to discuss bonuses, commission rates, account procedures and social contributions.
Three policy directions
Based on research into platform work, Loc proposed studying a policy framework with three directions: regulation, representation and redistribution.
For regulation, existing legal tools could be used, including research into how the 2024 Law on Social Insurance applies to the actual nature of the working relationship.
Where a case meets the legal criteria, the parties’ obligation to participate in compulsory social insurance could be considered, making their responsibilities clearer.
For representation, Loc proposed studying professional and area-based union models suited to platform workers. Such a mechanism could create a dialogue channel between worker representatives, platforms and state agencies.
Dialogue could focus on practical issues for drivers and companies, reducing different interpretations and helping resolve problems earlier.
The third direction, redistribution, would involve studying a mechanism to raise social protection funds from transactions on platforms. The funds could add resources to support workers.
Loc said the three directions should be studied together, taking into account the nature of the platform economy and conditions in Vietnam. Improving policy for ride-hailing drivers also concerns the balance between workers, platforms and the digital economy.
Sources: Dân Trí
