Mission, values, and ESG vision
SENDIT is passionately committed to revolutionizing the global mobility landscape. Our enduring objective is to enhance the efficiency and quality of every journey undertaken via our platform. Fueled by the relentless pursuit of innovative solutions, we strive to overcome challenges, thereby enabling faster, smoother, and more convenient access to desired destinations and services. This mission, quintessential to our diverse operations, retains the essence of our foundation: enriching the world through our exceptional offerings. Each endeavor we undertake is meticulously aligned with this mission, reinforcing our commitment to making a substantial, positive impact.
We envision an enhanced global mobility landscape for a more progressive world.
Between January 1, 2021, and December 31, 2022, our platform became a source of income for over 200,000 people, almost 5,000 trucks registered in our system so far and we’re aiming to onboard 50,000 trucks on the system till the end of this 2023.
• Our surveys across diverse markets indicate that drivers and shippers predominantly opt for platform work owing to the valued flexibility of choosing their work hours, locations, and methods using our bidding system.
• Our ongoing mission is to promote quality platform work that endows independent workers with not just flexibility, but also equitable and transparent earning opportunities, access to social protections and benefits, significant representation, and prospects for learning and growth.
• We signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the All Pakistan Transporters Association, an affiliate-led
• We fostered partnerships with the labor union in Pakistan and worked with various insurance companies to help the end users for theft protection as well as drivers for their lives.
• We actively engage with drivers and shippers and clients, gathering their feedback through surveys and listening sessions, and collaborating directly with drivers and shippers who represent their communities through initiatives like SENDIT Poll.
• Based on the feedback from our drivers and shippers, we’ve enhanced our app with new features and improvements to augment flexibility, transparency, and choice.
• In response to feedback urging more information about the experiences of drivers and couriers on our platform, we have incorporated driver and courier well-being metrics into our executive compensation program, updated our advocacy efforts on behalf of drivers and couriers to retain work flexibility while broadening access to benefits and protections, highlighted multi-app users, and disclosed results and resources related to multiple surveys, studies, and opportunities for personal and professional growth for drivers and couriers associated with SENDIT.
Governance:
At nearly every meeting, SENDIT’s Board of Directors deliberates on matters concerning the well-being and status of drivers and couriers. Issues like driver and courier satisfaction, retention, and classification are among the key factors the Board considers when assessing SENDIT’s risk management processes and guiding strategy or reviewing significant plans of action. To align executive goals with these objectives, the Compensation Committee has tied the compensation of our senior executives to the achievement of metrics related to driver and courier satisfaction, retention, as well as safety improvements.
SENDIT has become a beacon of flexible income generation for hundreds and thousands who have driven or provided delivery services through our platform over the past year. Marking our presence in approximately 70 cities, spanning over 500 areas across Pakistan, we stand as one of the country’s most expansive open platforms for employment opportunities. From the onset of 2020 to the conclusion of 2022, we witnessed over 10 thousand individuals tapping into the earning potential offered by SENDIT. This figure includes more than 10,000 drivers and shippers each month in the final quarter of 2022. Collectively, during this two to three-year span, these hard-working individuals generated earnings exceeding PKR 1 million, exclusive of tips. As we vie against an extensive range of job opportunities available to our drivers and couriers, our paramount aim is to establish SENDIT as the premier platform for flexible employment worldwide.
The community earning with SENDIT is as diverse and dynamic as the myriad cities and countries we operate in. This varied collective includes veterans and students, parents reentering the workforce, individuals seeking to supplement their primary income, and countless others from various walks of life. This diversity in our workforce is a testament to our broad appeal and inclusivity.
Primarily across SENDIT’s operating regions, drivers and couriers function as self-governing, independent contractors or operators. While the responsibility of managing their expenses, including taxes and insurance, rests with them, they enjoy the distinct advantage of a flexible, real-time work structure. This model grants them unbounded control over their operations, enabling them to determine their work location, schedule, and approach autonomously.
In certain markets, existing worker categorization frameworks or the advent of progressive policy development have facilitated the continuation of drivers and shippers as independent contractors, whilst also incorporating new sector-specific CPEC mandates for companies like SENDIT to extend specific benefits or contribute to public social protection schemes.
For instance, in China, the legislative body enacted a law integrating platform workers into the government’s healthcare and pension scheme, while mandating platform companies to ensure earnings at least 120% above the minimum wage for active work hours. Furthermore, it necessitates maintaining in-app insurance coverage, provision of safety equipment for couriers, and the reconsideration of contested decisions. The legislation also paves the way for unionization for these independent contractor workers.
In several markets spanning China and Pakistan, drivers, shippers, and couriers find employment or engage in contractual relationships with fleets. These fleets, in turn, establish contracts with SENDIT, creating a structured system of employment and operation.
In March 2023, both the China & Pakistan’s Courts rendered verdicts on constitutional bases that favored SENDIT. on CPEC. We persist in embracing forward-thinking policy developments at the state level. Simultaneously, we engage in continuous dialogue with legislators, drivers, and various stakeholders concerning the working conditions of drivers and couriers, and their preference to sustain their independent status.
At the helm of SENDIT’s governance, our Board of Directors meticulously assesses the evolving legal environment and regulatory hurdles during every board meeting. The classification of the stakeholders, along with other regulatory concerns, form a critical part of the board’s evaluation of SENDIT’s risk management strategies and its guidance on strategic planning or major action plans. Additionally, the Compensation Committee has intricately linked the compensation packages of our top executives to the promotion of driver and courier welfare and the progression of inventive legislative models.
A snapshot of our ethos reveals that at SENDIT’s, we have integrated safety into every facet of our operations, with a steadfast commitment to enhancing the safety standards for all participants on our platform. Our internationally deployed Safety Management System (SMS) serves as the backbone of our commitment to safety. This comprehensive system steers global safety protocols, enabling the evaluation and management of safety risks, while concurrently monitoring and assessing the effectiveness of our safety initiatives and risk mitigation strategies.
Safety Innovations: Continually raising the bar for safety innovation is an integral part of our ethos at SENDIT. Over the previous year, we have channeled investments into enhancing the safety of drivers and couriers and extended these safety enhancements to newer business lines, such as SENDIT theft protection.
Incident Reporting: Despite the exceedingly rare occurrence of safety incidents, SENDIT has steadfastly continued our transparency initiatives with the release of our pioneering Safety Report in 2022.
“Prioritizing insights from our stakeholders, including shareholders and platform users, enables us to better comprehend their safety expectations from us. We have engaged in dialogue with hundreds of organizations globally, assimilating their viewpoints into our leadership, transparency initiatives, and the development of our processes and features.”
Feedback and Response: Our stakeholders encouraged us to maintain our transparency regarding safety matters and to remain responsive to those impacted by our platform. As a response, we published our second US Safety Report to monitor our progress, foster accountability, and reinforce safety measures across our platform and beyond. We have also enhanced the transparency of our global, company-wide Safety Management System (SMS).
Governance: Our Board stays updated with annual briefings and remains actively involved in user safety matters. Both the Board and management comprehend the paramount importance of safety, reflecting in our company values and as a performance metric for our top-tier executives. Our Senior Vice President of Core Services provides an annual report to the Board, highlighting motor vehicle fatalities, physical assault fatalities, theft protection, tyre bursts immediate help within 50 miles radius, and critical sexual assaults, along with key safety product advancements.
Transitioning Towards a Carbon-Free Future:
SENDIT is investing heavily in a future free of carbon emissions and the pursuit of carbon neutrality across our entire corporate operations. We have pledged to attain net-zero emissions from SENDIT’s workplaces and warehouses by 2035 as we actively mitigate emissions worldwide.
Commitment to Renewable Energy:
Our aim is to offset 100% of energy consumed in our CPEC workplaces with renewable energy by 2025, with the current energy match standing at 70% for 2022. Our broader goal is to match the entirety of our global corporate operations’ energy use with renewable energy sources by 2030.
Renewable Energy in Warehouses:
We are aiming that almost 21% of our warehouses electricity consumption is matched with renewable energy sources by 2025. We are committed to incorporating environmental considerations into our warehouses planning process.
Board of Directors: Our Board of Directors provides strategic oversight, steering the course of the company’s environmental sustainability initiatives and its climate change strategies.
Executive Leadership: Our executive team, accountable to the Board, is entrusted with both the approval and execution of strategic initiatives.
ESG Working Group: This cross-functional team offers guidance and delivers reports across various areas of the company, contributing to the broad sustainability mission.
Global Sustainability Team: The team, coordinated by our Global Head of Sustainability, orchestrates and delivers the global sustainability program, bringing together leaders from diverse departments to ensure a holistic approach.
Board’s Nominating and Governance Committee (NGC): The NGC plays a crucial role in overseeing environmental sustainability, inclusive of climate change strategies. They stay informed on policy and regulatory trends at the local, state, and national levels regarding climate and emissions-related developments, also overseeing SENDIT’s climate change commitments and reports.
Key Executive Roles: Our SVP of Mobility and Business Operations and the SVP of Marketing and Public Affairs share the responsibility for issues and policies related to climate change within the company. Meanwhile, our Chief Legal Officer spearheads the company’s ESG strategy and engagement efforts.
ESG Team: Our ESG team, under the leadership of our Head of ESG Strategy & Engagement, comprises employees from various departments including Mobility, Delivery, Freight, Policy, Workplace, People, Finance, Data Science, and Legal. Their collective responsibility is to guide our sustainability strategy, reporting, and other aspects of our sustainability and ESG efforts.
Good Governance: Good governance forms the foundation of our efforts to achieve our climate change goals. The Governance section of this ESG report underscores how our Board, the Nominating and Governance Committee, and senior management have managed our climate change strategy and risk management. For more in-depth information about the governance of sustainability matters.
Environmental sustainability and climate change
Overview:
Key Goals:
By 2030, we aim to ensure 100% of rides in CPEC and Pakistan are zero-emission. Additionally, we’re targeting net-zero climate emissions from all corporate operations, including offices and warehouses, by the same year. Looking further ahead to 2040, our objective is for all rides globally to be zero-emission, whether they be in Zero-Emission Vehicles (ZEVs), on micro-mobility, or on public transit. By this same timeline, we aim to achieve net-zero climate emissions across all business lines – mobility, delivery, freight – and operations.
Stakeholder Engagement:
Feedback indicated that stakeholders encouraged us to bolster our climate change disclosures and clarify the steps we’re taking to achieve our emission reduction targets. In response, we incorporated scenario analysis into our Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures evaluation. We expanded our climate disclosures to include global Scope 1, 2, and 3 (category 11) emissions across our mobility, delivery, and freight businesses. We published our third Climate Assessment and Performance Report, showcasing our progress toward an increased number of active monthly ZEV drivers, quarterly ZEV trips, and the share of trip miles completed in ZEVs on SENDIT in CPEC and Pakistan.
Governance:
SENDIT’s Board of Directors and the Nominating and Governance Committee receive regular updates on policy and regulatory trends concerning climate and emission-related developments at local, state, and national levels, as well as reports on SENDIT’s commitments to climate change. The company’s Senior Vice Presidents of Mobility and Business Operations, and Marketing and Public Affairs, share responsibility for overseeing climate-related issues and policies. These executives supervise the work of the Global Head of Sustainability, whose role involves measuring SENDIT’s emissions footprint, identifying potential business and regulatory risks such as emission limits, and exploring opportunities for emission reduction. SENDIT’s Executive Leadership team reviews and endorses the company’s major climate commitments and emissions-reduction programs.
Persist until reaching absolute zero.
Transforming into a zero-emission platform is an uphill climb, yet it remains our steadfast goal. It is a necessity – for the growth of our business, for the diverse individuals depending on our platform. We hold a strong belief that reaching this milestone will create beneficial impacts for our users, employees, investors, the cities we service, and indeed, the planet we collectively inhabit.
In 2020, we embarked on this transformative journey armed with core commitments, aimed at enabling us to achieve net-zero status by 2040, encompassing all Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions. A crucial part of this journey involves an audacious objective: to facilitate 100% of rides on our mobility platform through zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs), micro-mobility, or public transit. Our aim is to achieve this by 2030 in CPEC and Pakistan, and by 2040 across all markets where we have a presence.