If you live in India and have been on any social media platforms, especially X, you must’ve come across various media outlets highlighting the issues faced by gig workers in India. But the real issue didn’t originate anywhere online, but in the fields and on roads where gig workers mainly work. The issue is simple, but the discourse around it is complicated.
It begins with the multiple problems faced by most gig workers, for which they raised their voice. It was fanned by those supporting these gig workers online and offline. Now, these queries are being attended to by the platform owners and CEO, with one in particular. So, who are these gig workers? What is their demand? Are they justified demands, and if so, what aren’t they met with? To learn the answer to all these questions, let’s dive right into this article.
A gig worker, by definition, is someone who takes freelance work or becomes an independent contractor undertaking short-term, flexible, project-based jobs, which are essentially called ‘gigs’. They do that for various clients and platforms, rather than a single, traditional employer, as in the conventional sense. In this scenario, the gig workers in question are the delivery drivers in India. Swiggy, Zomato, Zepto, and Blinkit are some of the biggest food delivery and quick e-commerce companies in India.
Together, they employ around 1.8 million to 2 million delivery partners nationwide. Their salary, welfare, good health, and benefits should be very important to their employer platforms. But what has turned out to be very important to them is the employer’s ‘efficiency,’ ‘employability,’ and ‘effectiveness.’ And this is where, essentially, the point of contention between workers and their employers lies.
Gig work is a very challenging job, demanding long work hours and dealing with myriad tantrums from a variety of customers in a day. Not to mention, that if they fail to deliver the food or goods within the delivery guidelines or per standard norms, they can be prepared to face the wrath of the customer as well as the employer.
A bad rating can hamper the daily career of these workers, and if the customer isn’t happy with the food or anything else, which is not the delivery partner’s fault, they still get an earful. Other arbitrary problems include listening to random, additional customer requests, such as “bring a cigarette pack on your way up” or “walk a mile inside a gated community to reach my doorstep.” These issues usually get ignored as random, singled-out instances. But over a period of time, they compile into something big and dangerous for the delivery drivers. Hence, the demands of gig workers find their rightful and justified place in the public discourse today.
The demands made by these workers are simple: Hear us out and give us a chance at dialogue in matters that involve our health, safety, and life. In other words, a seat at the table to discuss matters involving them is a fair ask in every measure. At the center of this controversy is a privilege and an incentive that these delivery platforms have offered to customers – The 10-minute delivery. Here’s why, despite its appealing business model, it is dangerous to delivery drivers.
The Feasibility, Or Lack Thereof, Of the 10-Minute Delivery System
“Delivered in 10 minutes” is a tagline we have all heard or read on food delivery platforms, regarding our order. On the surface, it appears to be a brilliant deal. But beneath that surface lies the over-exploitation of gig workers to fulfil that promise. The average daily pay for a gig worker in India is INR 600 to INR 1,300 for a workday of 7-12 hours. Sometimes the daily hours extend to and beyond 15 hours, but the pay rise remains very low. With that level of labour-intensive work, it is arduous and borderline dangerous for workers to expect to deliver in 10 minutes.
These delivery partners brave all sorts of challenges on the Indian roads. Rain, bad roads, traffic congestion, extreme Indian weather, be it in summer or winter, are just some of the issues they face multiple times daily outdoors. This is besides the money spent on fuel, bike, cancellation charges, or even their dresses. With these many challenges already in place, it is extremely unfair to ask them to deliver an order in 10 minutes. So, one of their demands has been to get rid of this system.
Has the demand been answered? As of now, nothing has been done to this 10-minute delivery system, and one can only assume that it stays in place for the time being.
Deepinder Goyal, the CEO of Zomato, went on the Raj Shamani podcast and discussed this issue. When asked about the hidden dangers to workers of this 10-minute delivery system, Mr. Goyal wasn’t ready to accept it. His rebuttal was that it takes 60-90 seconds to cook and prepare a meal, and 8 to 8.5 minutes is enough to deliver any order within a 1 km square radius. Whether this theory is true or not remains a debatable topic. Several workers have spoken up about how it’s not entirely true and how other challenges creep up that more often than not hinder this process.
So far, there have already been calls for a ban on the 10-minute delivery system twice.
Other Demands By Gig Workers
The Union and the State government had stepped in to create the gig and platform worker sector. The Karnataka Platform-Based Gig Workers (Social Security and Welfare) Act, 2025, came into force on 30 May 2025, and the Karnataka Platform-Based Gig Workers Rules 2025 have also been notified and made accessible to the public, which came into effect on 19 November 2025. As per this law, 1% – 5% of the amount payable to the gig workers per transaction should be deposited by the platform into the welfare fund.
This affects the salary of workers even more. While it has its advantages, i.e., taking care of every worker’s welfare, it may also put a strain on the daily income of already low-earning gig workers. The advantages, however, include taking care of accident insurance, health insurance, life insurance, minimum wages, maternity and health benefits, pension, and old-age benefits, and occupational safety norms.
This brings workers to their other demand – Data Release.
Inayath Ali, President of Karnataka App-Based Workers Union and National VP of the Indian Federation of App-based Transport Workers Union, has urged aggregators/platforms to release daily comprehensive data. The platforms have denied it based on ‘Data Security.’
One sudden release of data from Deepinder Goyal, which shocked netizens, was the pride-filled post on X (formerly Twitter), where he bragged about making 75 lakh deliveries by Zomato and Blinkit combined, on New Year’s Eve, despite widespread strikes. Mr. Goyal also called those calling for strikes ‘miscreants’. That word didn’t sit well with a lot of people, who felt that calling those underpaid workers demanding their rights as ‘miscreants’ is a bit extreme.
The gig workers are also asking for the restoration of the INR 10 per km rate, which was compressed to INR 6 per km. They also want an end to the algorithm-led practice of shadow banning, where workers’ IDs are blocked based on an opaque matrix or unverified customer complaints. As soon as these unusual problems end, gig workers are more than happy to get back to their work.
The Government Has Answered
These strikes and demands that the workers proposed created a stir among netizens. Naturally, it trickled down to people both on and off the internet. This created a discourse, and then a movement, which became very relevant. Now, while the companies and platforms continue to tackle this in their own way, the government has answered. They published a new draft with rules under the Social Security Code 2020.
The draft proposes a 90-day work threshold as the mandatory eligibility criteria for gig and platform workers to access social security. The 90-day mandate is for workers who work for a single aggregator or platform. If they switch to multiple platforms, then the threshold increases to 120 days. This new draft allows workers access to a lot of benefits that didn’t exist before.
- They will get legal recognition.
- They will get a UAN (Universal Account Number) and a Digital ID card, which will give them government identification and credibility.
- Companies will now be legally bound to register all workers and share the data with the government. They will also have to update this data every three months.
- Finally, there is also a Social Security Fund being created for every worker.
While these benefits are a start and will go a long way in helping Indian gig workers, there still needs to be more systemic improvements for these workers. Deepinder Goyal also said that if the Indian gig work wasn’t good, then it wouldn’t attract so many workers (1.8 – 2 million, as mentioned above). But in reality, these workers are only seeking a gig job since there isn’t much employment available to them elsewhere.
Lack of employment has forced these workers to seek gig work for these food delivery apps. There is a lack of dignity towards gig workers as well. One worker said, “No one wants to drive 10 hours in Bangalore’s traffic, only to earn less than INR 1000 at the end of the day.” Rakshita Swamy, member of Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan and SAFAR, emphasized ‘exploitative labor’ does not equal ‘providing opportunities.’ She said that in response to Deepinder Goyal’s post on Twitter on New Year’s Eve.
As the government takes a step in the right direction, let better sense prevail, and the gig workers continue to be valued, respected, and recognized in their line of work.
