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Cairo: Hundreds of food delivery workers have been apprehended in Saudi Arabia’s western city of Taif for doing the job without having a mandatory health certificate, a municipal official has said.
The Taif municipality caught more than 2,000 delivery workers having no health certificates, said mayor of West Taif, Saleh Al Maliki.
He told Saudi TV Al Ekhbariya that necessary legal measures had been taken against them.
The Taif municipality initiated more than six months ago a campaign focusing on delivery personnel’s compliance with regulations and health rules.
The campaign aims to ensure the safe delivery of food and beverages to consumers, and to verify that workers engaged in food deliveries have obtained the health certificate that authorises them to practise the activity.
Last week, Saudi transport authorities announced a halt to the issuance of licences for motorcycle delivery services operating through mobile apps, pending the issuance of new regulations.
The decision marks the end of a trial phase during which companies were granted temporary licences to meet the surge in demand.
Around 4.3 million violations were recorded last month in the kingdom against providers of delivery services through mobile apps.
The violations were detected through large-scale campaigns mounted by the Transport General Authority (TGA) in cooperation with other government agencies.
These violations ranged from the driver’s non-compliance with wearing the uniform accredited by TGA while on duty, the delivery app’s contracting with an unauthorised carrier, the failure of the delivery vehicle or the driver to observe related requirements, or non-availability of tools necessary to ensure safety of the transported goods.
In April, rules for delivery services in the kingdom went into effect, partially confining the job to Saudis.
The first phase of these regulations obligated non-Saudis to limit their work in the sector to licensed apps and wear a uniform on duty.
The rules were aimed at regulating the burgeoning delivery sector, making it obligatory for non-Saudis to do the job only through light transport companies gradually within a 14-month limit.
Self-employment, however, is allowed for Saudi nationals to motivate them to work in this sector in a way aimed to create more jobs for them.
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