Xiong Yan’s video explained that, prior to the “adjustment”, riders would receive about 5 yuan regardless of the distance they travelled for each order. The “adjustment” cancelled this flat fee and tied the fee that the riders receive to the distance they’ve travelled, which could range from 3 to 10 yuan. In practice, the video explains that this amounts to an overall pay cut for the workers, and each delivery worker would lose at least 1,000 yuan per month from this change for the same amount of work.

Xiong Yan also highlighted another scandalous act on the part of Ele.me, which promised riders that they would be awarded with a large bonus of 8,000 yuan should they fulfill a set amount of orders during the Chinese New Year holidays. This is comparable to an entire month’s worth of income for most of these riders. Many workers worked their heart out for this bonus, only for Ele.me to move the goalposts by changing the required delivery target at the final hour to deprive them of it. Xiong Yan exposed this on 18 February with an online video that received over 9 million views, while related topics on Weibo reached 200 million. Although the state soon repressed all discussion of this deception, the truth was already widely known.

Is this true? If so, why does China even have this sort of neoliberal gig economy in the first place?

Seems like a fucked up industry:

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202101/1212188.shtml

A 43-year-old rider surnamed Han died on December 21 while delivering food. Ele.me on Wednesday told Han's family that he had no connection with the platform, but the platform was willing to provide 2,000 yuan ($309.5) to his family out of compassion, media reported. Han reportedly worked for Fengniao, a sub-brand of delivery services under ele.me. In its user agreement, it noted that registrant riders do not have any form of labor relationship with the company, according to media reports.

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202101/1213073.shtml

Liu Jin, a deliveryman of Ele.me, set himself on fire with gasoline in front of a delivery site in Taizhou, East China's Jiangsu Province, on January 11 as he sought to claim wages owed to him.

Liu's case is slightly different from other labor disputes. The official statement shows that Liu did not sign a labor contract with Ele.me, but registered a studio through an online platform, and then by signing a "project subcontracting agreement" with other companies to work for Ele.me. However, Ele.me is responsible for paying his salary. Industry sources point out that this is a frequent employment method for food delivery platforms these days. This helps them avoid legal risks when labor disputes arise, but makes it more difficult for workers to defend their rights.

Previous media reports pointed out that deliverymen work on a very tight schedule, and taking time out could lead to significant wage deductions, which has triggered protests. Its solution was to urge users to tell deliverymen that they are willing to "wait another five minutes." "Ele.me is actually asking consumers to take responsibilities that fall to the delivery platform," a Beijing-based independent analyst who wished to be called Zhang, told the Global Times. "It is capital that squeezes riders and creates safety hazards. This is a systemic problem of the online platforms," Zhang added.