Recently, several drivers who are business partners of Mai Linh taxi in Hanoi, Vietnam, have reported that the company has been withholding their revenue since the end of 2023, causing financial difficulties for the drivers.
According to Mr. T.M.C., a partner driver with Mai Linh taxi in Hanoi, the company used to make regular payments to drivers, with two to three payment batches per month.
“However, since the end of 2023, there has been a delay in payments. Currently, hundreds of partner drivers for the company in Hanoi are facing unpaid revenue issues, with Mai Linh owing them money from December 2023 onwards. This has caused significant challenges for me,” said Mr. T.M.C.
Image of Mai Linh taxi cabs.
When asked about this issue, Mr. Nguyen Cong Hung, Director of Mai Linh Northern Region, acknowledged that the company indeed owes unpaid revenue to its partner drivers, dating back to December 2023.
Explaining the reason for the delayed payments, Mr. Hung attributed it to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has caused financial difficulties for transportation businesses, including taxi companies.
“Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Mai Linh regularly settled payments with our partners and even borrowed money to pay our drivers in advance. Within 45 days of issuing an invoice, drivers would receive their payments. However, due to the challenges posed by the pandemic, we are now focusing on multiple revenue streams to gradually settle the outstanding payments owed to our drivers,” Mr. Hung explained.
Additionally, Mr. Hung mentioned that Mai Linh has a large number of corporate clients who use a ‘ride now, pay later’ model, which extends the collection period for outstanding payments to 45-90 days, further delaying the revenue distribution process and resulting in late payments to partner drivers.
Mr. Hung further informed that Mai Linh in Hanoi is currently settling the December 2023 payments for partner drivers and will strive to collect outstanding payments from clients to ensure timely payments for subsequent months.
