(Yicai Global) Sept. 9 -- Ele.me and Meituan Dianping, China's two leading takeout delivery platforms, have responded to an investigative media report that shed light on the precarious nature of food delivery jobs in China.

Monthly magazine Nothing But Storytelling published an article on WeChat yesterday that laid bare the stressful working conditions endured by staff who deliver food and beverages to homes, offices and other destinations. Drivers who deliver for restaurants that offer money-back guarantees need to finish orders as quickly as within 30 minutes or risk losing income or even being fired, the report said. 

Tight deadlines also translate into daily danger on the streets of Chinese cities, turning the job of a takeout driver into a high-risk one, according to traffic police.

Alibaba Group Holding's Ele.me will launch a new feature as soon as possible that will enable customers to push back the delivery deadline by five or 10 minutes, the Shanghai-based company said on WeChat today. Moreover, riders with good track records will not be punished for missing individual deadlines, it added.

Ele.me's idea does not make sense, according to Tang Jiansheng, deputy secretary-general of the Shanghai Consumer Rights Protection Commission. The company is making the consumer shoulder the delay, he said.

Beijing-based Meituan Dianping announced today that it will introduce an eight-minute flexibility system in case of unusual circumstances such as bad weather and accidents.

Meituan had nearly three million registered couriers as of June 30, its earnings report showed. The company made CNY1.3 billion (USD189.8 million) in net profit from its takeout business in the period, a 66 percent jump from a year ago. Revenue rose 13 percent to CNY14.5 billion (USD2.1 billion).

Ele.me's logistics arm has a similar number of delivery staff, according to its website. The Alibaba business unit that covers Ele.me and online restaurant guide Koubei turned profitable in the second quarter, while the number of registered merchants jumped 30 percent, according to the parent firm's earnings report. Meanwhile, the unit's revenue gained 15 percent to CNY7.1 billion.

Editor: Emmi Laine