The operations of prominent food delivery platforms Swiggy and Zomato experienced disruptions in various areas of Mumbai on Monday due to a strike by delivery workers. Their demands included increased incentives and improved working conditions.
The strikes, which began on Sunday, are being coordinated by several organizations, including the Shiv Sena-affiliated Rashtriya Karmachari Sena and the Indian Federation of App-based Transport Workers (IFATW).
Shaik Salauddin, the national general secretary of IFATW, stated that thousands of delivery workers from Swiggy and Zomato participated in the strikes.
Numerous users turned to social media to express their grievances about service interruptions. One user posted on the microblogging platform X (formerly Twitter), saying, “Hello @Swiggy @SwiggyCares, if your riders in Mumbai are on strike why are you accepting orders? My order has been stuck for over 90 minutes and is not getting cancelled.”
Requests for comments on the strikes went unanswered by Swiggy and Zomato.
The delivery workers are calling for improvements in various areas, such as fair distribution of orders and workloads, optimizing pickup and drop distances, providing comprehensive insurance coverage for both workers and their families, and ensuring equal access to incentive programs.
IFATW has advocated for the introduction of a ‘Social Security Bill’ for gig workers in Mumbai, akin to a recent legislation passed by the Rajasthan government. Additionally, it has urged the establishment of a “tripartite board” comprising representatives from aggregators, worker organizations, and the government to oversee worker-related schemes. Furthermore, IFATW has called for ecommerce platforms to contribute a “welfare cess” to fund a collective fund dedicated to gig workers.
Salauddin expressed concern, stating, “We know of about 3,500 delivery partners whose IDs have been deactivated by platforms, not just in Swiggy and Zomato but across platforms, due a variety of reasons that were beyond their control, like bad weather or packaging issues or wrong location. This kind of deactivation without verification or bargaining is very harmful for workers.”
He mentioned that the striking workers were in discussions with delivery personnel from other companies, such as Zepto, to potentially join their protest. However, he refrained from providing a specific timeline for the duration of the strikes, emphasizing that they would continue “as long as they do not adversely affect the well-being of the workers.”
In April, delivery workers employed by Blinkit, a quick-commerce platform owned by Zomato, initiated a strike in response to the company’s alteration of its payout system. The change shifted from a fixed rate of INR 25 per delivery (plus an additional INR 7 during peak hours) to a minimum fee of INR 15 per delivery, supplemented by a distance-based component.
The Rajasthan Assembly passed the Rajasthan Platform-Based Gig Workers (Registration and Welfare) Bill in July 2023, making it the first law of its kind in the country aimed at protecting gig workers.
