Mandatory Road Safety Outcomes in Platform Operator Algorithms, and Incentive Structures to Prevent Unsafe Rushing by Riders and Drivers
Ministry of ManpowerSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns whether platform operators will be required to incorporate road-safety outcomes into their algorithms and incentives to prevent riders and drivers from rushing. Mr Jackson Lam raised this issue to the Acting Minister for Manpower to safeguard platform workers against unsafe driving incentives. In the response, Ms Jasmin Lau stated that the Approved Code of Practice for Platform Services already prohibits completion-time bonuses or penalties, with investigations finding no accidents caused by platform incentive structures. Furthermore, operators and platform work associations have jointly developed upstream guardrails to prevent incentives from encouraging excessively long work periods without adequate rest. The Platform Worker Safety Workgroup, formed in March 2026, is studying causal factors including incentives and expects to share recommendations by end-2026.
Transcript
75 Mr Jackson Lam asked the Acting Minister for Manpower whether the Government will consider requiring platform operators to incorporate road-safety outcomes into their algorithms and incentive structures, including safeguards against incentives that may encourage riders to rush.
Ms Jasmin Lau: The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) shares the Member's concerns on the need to strengthen platform worker (PW) safety. We have worked with platform operators (POs) and the labour movement to put in place safeguards against safety risks arising from POs' incentive structures. The Approved Code of Practice (ACOP) for Platform Services states that POs should not set any limit, penalty, or bonus incentive for completing a job within a certain time.
MOM will take action against POs who are found to have not complied with the ACOP. In our investigations of accidents involving PWs, MOM has thus far not found any evidence that these accidents were caused by unsafe riding or driving behaviour arising from platform incentive structures.
In addition, MOM has worked with POs, the National Trades Union Congress and platform work associations (PWAs) to address potential safety risks from incentives upstream. Beyond the existing requirements in the ACOP, POs and PWAs have jointly developed additional guardrails on payment and incentive schemes, including that incentives should not encourage PWs to work excessively long periods without adequate rest. This framework enables PWAs to raise safety concerns on incentive schemes to POs for bilateral discussion and mitigation.
The PW Safety Workgroup, formed in March 2026, is discussing further measures to improve platform work safety and will continue to study the role of incentives and other potential causal factors for accidents involving PWs. The Workgroup expects to conclude its work by end-2026 and will share its recommendations when ready.