Photo: IC

Unlock the mobile phone, tap to open an app, select a favorite restaurant to make an order of delivery, pay the check online. Then wait for the meal to show up at the door. This is now the routine of about 80 million or more people in China. 

The food delivery industry has been booming at a startling speed in China. Transactions of this scale have exceeded 2 billion yuan ($300 million) a day. The team of food delivery couriers has also expanded. 

In 2018, over 36.5 million jobs in China were related to this prosperous industry. According to data from Meituan Dianping, one of the two big Chinese food delivery providers, in the first half of 2020 the number of delivery persons reached 2.95 million - it was 2.7 million in 2018. Among them, up to 1.38 million were new riders. 

Food delivery not only facilitates people's daily life, but it also boosts China's economic vitality. Nonetheless, controversies and concerns over this emerging industry never cease. 

A study published in the Chinese labor security magazine, Laodong Baozhang Shijie, shows that 84 percent of delivery staff work more than 10 hours daily. Delivery workers in Beijing, for example, spend on average up to 11.4 hours every day on the job. This piles up risks of them suffering from overwork. 

Riders who run a red light, drive on the wrong side of the road, or read navigation apps while riding without paying attention to traffic or the road are commonplace. As of mid-September, Shanghai police have dealt with over 43,000 cases of traffic violations committed by food delivery couriers - just this year. 

But before we start blaming delivery riders for these risks, we need to think twice about why they do this for low pay. The truth is they barely have a choice. 

Food delivery platforms have created an illusion in which riders can make more money than people like migrant workers - while not needing to sweat too much. 

Meituan said that over half of its riders can earn a monthly wage of more than 4,000 yuan ($590). Nearly 60 percent of its riders work less than four hours daily, it detailed. 

Such data is somehow misleading. It cannot reflect real scenarios because it doesn't take temporary riders' income into consideration when calculating average earnings. Moreover, the income of riders depends to a great extent on the bonus of orders delivered. This means riders need to bend over backward to approach their dream wages. 

Besides, takeaway platforms supported by algorithms and databases further squeeze riders in terms of delivery time. To meet such requirements, riders find themselves violating traffic rules. In many cases, if they follow the delivery routes recommended by the algorithm, they can't make the drop-off times properly. If couriers cannot manage their delivery time or get negative feedback from customers who are inclined to complain about delayed meals, they will get fined. With this sort of pressure, many delivery workers have no choice but to risk their lives by racing against the algorithms.

I myself am a user of food delivery services. I really appreciate the riders, especially during Beijing's strict quarantine measures to fight against COVID-19. When the city almost stopped, they were the real knights who helped support hundreds of thousands of families with groceries. 

They are really the unsung heroes in our arduous efforts to put the pandemic under control. They help us enjoy our daily lives with more convenience and freedom. They should be understood, respected and treated well by takeaway platforms and the customers.

The author is a reporter with the Global Times. xuhailin@gloabltimes.com.cn