Due to the greed of earning huge money, lakhs of Indian citizens go to Arab countries for jobs.
There are often reports of fraud with many of these people. In this sequence, the Indian Embassy has issued a warning to the people.
The Indian Embassy in Kuwait has issued a special advisory for Indians who are coming to Kuwait to work as ‘Restaurant Drivers’ on employment visa.
As soon as these people land in Kuwait, they are deployed as ‘delivery drivers’ or ‘riders for food platforms’. Now the Indian Embassy has said in its advisory that there are many traps in this kind of job, about which people should be aware before reaching here.
According to a Times of India report, the advisory emphasizes that do not blindly trust any job vacancy with titles like ‘Consumer Order,’ ‘Consumer Goods,’ or ‘Delivery of Order.’ This type of job is nothing but ‘food delivery aggregators’. That means you will get food delivery using a two-wheeler (cycle) or bike. Elaborating on the job profile, the advisory states that when someone signs up as a delivery agent, most of them have to deliver orders using two-wheelers or bikes. “Even during the scorching heat they are made to do this work.”
Delivery drivers are granted small-to-medium enterprise (SME) visas. This visa obliges the employee to work for the same employer for three years. Simply put, you will be able to work for only one company for three years and in between you cannot change the job as per your wish. There is also no provision for release or transfer of visa during three years. Which means that the expatriate cannot transfer his work permit to other companies. After three years, workers can transfer to another SME company or return to India.
When it comes to salary, it is usually commission-based along with delivery targets. Apart from this, your salary also depends on the distance of the delivered orders. There is no fixed monthly income. Some job agents make false promises regarding this. Weather conditions in Kuwait are harsh (extreme heat and dust storms) during some months of the year.
With regard to avoiding such traps, an official of the Indian Embassy in Kuwait, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that all these migrants recruited as delivery riders should be given embassy-verified employment as prescribed by the Government of India to protect their interests. Emphasis should be placed on contracts. According to the contract, there is a provision for a minimum wage of 120 Kuwaiti dinars (Rs 32,000) for delivery riders as per Kuwait’s labor laws. The benefits of employment contract verification through the embassy include insurance coverage and additional insurance benefit of Pravasi Bharatiya Bima Yojana (PBBY). “This issue is already a matter of concern to Kuwaiti and Indian authorities,” he said. These job offers are under investigation.”