PENDANG, Jan 16 — The Social Security Organisation (Socso) has so far paid RM1.3 million in compensation benefits for 764 accident cases involving food delivery riders nationwide.

Deputy Human Resource Minister Datuk Awang Hashim said the payments covered temporary and permanent disability benefits, medical expenses, dependent as well as funeral benefits.

"As such, the ministry is urging individuals who are self-employed as food delivery workers to contribute to Socso so that their welfare and that of their families are guaranteed through the provision of these benefits,” he told reporters at Kampung Sukamari here, today.

Earlier, Awang presented temporary disability benefits to food deliveryman Hussain Mohamad Danial, 25, who was involved in an accident while on his way to pick up customers’ orders in June last year.

Elaborating, Awang said the process of getting the related claims for delivery workers after they contribute to Socso would take less than two and three months, if all the required documents are in order.

In addition, he said the ministry has targeted that at least 30 per cent of the 2.38 million people who are self-employed nationwide would make contributions to Socso this year, and so far 15.03 per cent or 358,214 individuals are already Socso contributors.

Meanwhile, he said over 12,000 complaints on employers have been recorded by the ministry through the ‘Working For Workers’ (WFW) application since it was launched in May last year.

"Of the number, 60 per cent of the complaints have been resolved by the ministry while the rest are being investigated for action to be taken,” he said adding that investigations into complaints by flood victims who were terminated due to absence from work, were ongoing. — Bernama