Amidst the strike, Swiggy and Zomato announce incentives for delivery partners: They will offer incentives of up to ₹150 during peak hours

Amidst a nationwide strike by gig workers, including delivery personnel, Swiggy and Zomato have announced higher incentives during peak hours and year-end days. Zomato sent messages to its delivery partners stating that they would receive a payout of ₹120-150 per order during peak hours (6 PM to 12 AM).

They have promised earnings of up to ₹3,000 per day, depending on the number of orders and availability. Swiggy said that delivery workers can earn up to ₹10,000 on December 31st and January 1st combined. They can earn up to ₹2,000 during peak hours (6 PM to 12 AM) on New Year's Eve.

100,000 Workers May Join the Strike

Around 100,000 gig workers across the country may participate in the strike today, December 31st. This could cause difficulties for people ordering food and groceries online. The union alleges that companies like Zomato and Swiggy are exploiting them and denying them basic legal rights.

The union has warned that if their demands are not met, it will impact the country's economic growth. Earlier, on December 25th, delivery workers held a symbolic strike, in which approximately 40,000 workers participated.

5 Reasons for the Gig Workers' Strike

This strike by delivery partners and riders is not due to a single reason, but rather several long-standing grievances. According to union leaders and experts, the main reasons are:

1. Lack of Social Security and Welfare Funds

The biggest demand of gig workers is social security. Despite government regulations, many states still do not provide these workers with facilities like pensions, health insurance, or provident fund (PF).

2. Declining Earnings and Incentive Cuts

Initially, companies offered high incentives to delivery partners. These have now been reduced. Previously, they earned ₹40 to ₹60 per order. Now, this has decreased to between ₹15 and ₹25.

3. Poor working conditions and pressure for 10-minute deliveries

Quick commerce apps like Blinkit and Zepto put pressure on workers to deliver within 10-12 minutes. Workers allege that this increases their risk of accidents.

4. Arbitrary blocking of IDs

A major complaint of gig workers is that companies block their IDs without any prior notice or valid reason. This suddenly deprives them of their livelihood.

5. Legal status of gig workers

Currently, these workers are called 'partners' of the companies, not 'employees'. The strike is demanding that they be recognized as formal employees.

More problems expected in cities like Delhi and Mumbai

This strike has been called by the Telangana Gig and Platform Workers Union (TGPWU) and the Indian Federation of App-Based Transport Workers (IFAT).

The strike has also received support from regional organizations in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Delhi-NCR, West Bengal, and Tamil Nadu. Therefore, a greater impact is expected in these areas.

Union leaders claim that more than 100,000 delivery workers will either log out of the apps or work very little in support of this strike.

Karan Taurani, Executive Vice President of Elara Capital, says that gig workers are earning more these days, so many may choose to work despite the strike.

No significant impact expected on e-commerce companies

The strike will have the greatest impact on food delivery and quick commerce apps. The impact on e-commerce companies is expected to be minimal.

Earlier, a strike on December 25th (Christmas) involved approximately 40,000 workers. This affected about 60% of deliveries in some cities.

Why the greater impact on food delivery?

According to analysts, food delivery and quick commerce platforms are more dependent on local delivery partners. In e-commerce, the delivery network has a robust backup system.

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Orders could drop by up to 20% in major South Indian cities.

According to Karan Taurani, the strike is expected to primarily affect metro cities in South India. Order volumes in these cities could see a decline of 10 to 20%.

However, on a nationwide level, the strikes on December 25th and 31st are estimated to have only a 0.3% to 0.7% impact on the total revenue of delivery platforms.