Delivery workers from major quick commerce platforms went on strike across several major cities on Wednesday, in a protest against falling earnings and what they describe as deteriorating working conditions in the fast-growing sector.
The Telangana Gig and Platform Workers Union (TGPWU) and Indian Federation of App-Based Transport Workers (IFAT), representing over 40,000 delivery workers, had called for strikes on December 25 and 31 targeting platforms including Swiggy, Eternal, Zepto, Amazon, and Flipkart.
“By 4 pm on December 25, our peaceful protest led to at least 40,000 orders being stalled. Key areas in Delhi NCR, Hyderabad, and Bengaluru are seeing prolonged participation,” Shaik Salauddin, founder president of TGPWU and co-founder of IFAT, told FE. He said Hyderabad saw particularly intense participation from workers.
Earnings Squeeze
The protest comes amid a sharp squeeze on gig worker earnings. FE had reported in November that per-order rates had fallen to Rs 15-27 in several high-density zones following fee waivers for customers by quick commerce platforms, down from Rs 22-30 during the beginning of the festive season in September and Rs 34-42 in early 2024.
“We can understand with higher demand it is reducing. But there should be a cap to the drop. It can’t go as low as Rs 10-15,” Salauddin said. “Workers are having to work extra long hours to make up the same amount of daily take home.”
The unions accused platforms of blocking protesting workers’ IDs rather than engaging with their concerns. “Companies have resorted to blocking protesting workers’ ID as a measure to deter them from the exercise rather than engaging with them to understand and solve their concerns,” Salauddin said.
Beyond Payouts
The strike demands include transparent wage structures, withdrawal of “10-minute delivery” models citing safety concerns, ending arbitrary ID blocking, improved safety measures with insurance support, consistent work allocation, mandatory rest breaks, and social security including health insurance and pension benefits. Workers also called for government intervention to regulate platform companies, enforce labour protections, and recognise gig workers’ right to organise collectively.
Swiggy, Eternal, Zepto, Amazon, and Flipkart did not respond to queries on the strike or worker demands at the time of going to the press.
The unions have called for another strike on December 31.