The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia recently made headlines with their new regulations for delivery drivers. The Transport General Authority (TGA) of Saudi Arabia announced these new regulations to prioritize both rider safety and business efficiency, aiming to create a robust and secure delivery ecosystem for all stakeholders.

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What are the key aspects of the  new regulations?

Facial Recognition Technology: Delivery apps must implement facial recognition to verify driver identities during onboarding and periodically to prevent fraud and unauthorized access.

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What are the implications of these new regulations?

In order to understand the implications of the TGA’s  new rules, we’ll have to first understand the current challenges faced by the hyperlocal food delivery and transport industry in KSA.

There are cases of drivers (providers) using someone else’s identity to onboard and end up doing identity fraud, breaking transport laws or internal compliance of gig platform companies. Countries have moderate enforcement in place to curb such malpractices. But countries like Saudi Arabia have come up with progressive laws to prevent such incidents. As more countries follow such regulations, it will be increasingly required. 

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is taking a decisive step towards a more efficient and secure delivery sector with the recent announcement of new regulations for delivery drivers. Implemented by the Transport General Authority (TGA), these changes aim to enhance the overall delivery experience for both customers and businesses.

The key measures in the updated rules include mandatory uniforms and facial recognition technology for delivery drivers. These requirements can only be solved digitally, at scale.

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How can businesses be compliant with the new regulations while mitigating fraud?

During onboarding, businesses can use the right technology to ensure the riders are who they claim to be. Bureau’s comprehensive solutions help tackle identity fraud by using a combination of tech, such as document verification, selfie liveness check, face match checks to ensure the riders are genuine.

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Here’s a snapshot of what Bureau offers on rider onboarding -

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Beyond just identity verification

Let’s take a step back to understand what are the other major frauds these gig economy companies face. In a typical Gig economy ecosystem, there are 3 main players – Buyer users, Gig providers and Partners. Any or all of them can perpetrate frauds, depending on business model, points of contact, payment modes and flow of information, in general.

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Taking a case study of hyper local delivery system, we could see following frauds:

• Empty Box Frauds – Sender and Receiver of goods (Buyer) may collude to send empty boxes (or dummy items) and claim missing goods or force provider to buy fake box before vanishing.
• Gift Card / Top-up / Recharge scam is when the buyer forces the provider to buy mentioned cards and share the code without compensating the provider.
• Promo / Coupon abuse – Multiple redemptions in same or different devices / accounts.
• Cash for paid orders – Providers force users to pay cash for a delivery that was already paid for.
• Tax / Charges collection – Providers mislead buyers to pay additional amounts of tax / charges, that were either non-existent or not paying the platform company genuine charges / tax.
• Wrong complaints – providers file false complaints of missing items, unreachable customers, etc. to avoid delivering transit goods. 
• Account takeover – Senders of goods / Partners / unrelated parties may contact genuine players in the ecosystem and takeover their account to either empty their Wallet or sell such accounts for profit

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With Bureau, businesses can use a combination of tools to make sure they prevent fraud at different stages of the operations. 

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With Bureau’s effective solutions, your business can identify and eliminate potential fraudulent riders right from the first step, making your business safe and more efficient.

In short, compliance and fraud prevention are two sides of the same coin. By implementing the right tools and staying vigilant, you can create a secure and efficient delivery ecosystem for your business, your drivers, and your customers.

Ready to navigate the new regulations with confidence? Let Bureau be your guide! We'll help you stay compliant, fight fraud, and ensure your deliveries reach their destinations smoothly and safely.

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