The past few months have been harsh on Quick Commerce. A few months ago, when Blinkit’s CEO Albinder Dhindsa told Bloomberg in an interview that the Quick Commerce bubble may burst soon, as the companies involved are running losses for a long time, no one really thought it would start unfolding soon.
Gig workers protest, government intervention on marketing it as ‘10-minute delivery’, and a shocking report revealing the future of gig workers in India later, an on-ground reporting exercise by The Indian Express, tracked three days of delivery work across these platforms in Delhi, offers a close look at how the economics of gig delivery play out in practice.
Over three days, an IE reporter completed 23 deliveries across Swiggy, Zomato and Blinkit, covering 105 km and working more than 15 hours. Gross earnings stood at Rs 782. After fuel expenses of around Rs 250, net earnings dropped to Rs 532, translating to roughly Rs 34 per hour. This calculation does not include vehicle maintenance, mobile data costs or the physical strain of long hours on congested roads, the report said.
Base pay remains thin
As per the report, across platforms, base pay per delivery typically ranged between Rs 35 – 55, depending on distance. Zomato offered the highest payout among the three platforms during the reporting period, earning Rs 355 for six deliveries. Blinkit paid Rs 313.27 for 11 deliveries, while Swiggy paid Rs 114 for six deliveries, partly due to penalties imposed for rejecting orders. Furthermore, the IE report also showed how declining two orders on Swiggy made the worker take a training, which mentioned “Rejecting order is bad behaviour. Account may be deactivated.”
Swiggy’s system deducts Rs 30 for each order rejected beyond the first, and repeated rejections can lead to temporary account suspension. As per the IE report, Zomato and Blinkit do not impose monetary penalties. However, workers reported time-based restrictions if they log out early or decline too many orders.
Incentives drive behaviour
The report further highlighted how incentives form the backbone of delivery earnings rather than the base pay that the employees get. On Blinkit, for instance, workers become eligible for bonuses only after crossing specific base-pay thresholds within a defined time window. Missing a target by a narrow margin or facing a single cancellation can nullify the entire incentive.
Workers interviewed by The Indian Express said that without completing 25 to 30 deliveries a day, earnings remain modest. At that level of output, however, the work begins to resemble a full-time job, without the stability or benefits of formal employment.
Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal has said that average hourly earnings across Zomato and Blinkit stood at Rs 102 in 2025. According to the company, workers logging in for at least eight hours a day over 26 days earned an average of Rs 27,726 a month in 2024, excluding fuel costs. These figures assume high availability, minimal rejections and sustained daily engagement.
Company data also shows that only a small fraction of delivery partners operate at this intensity. Most workers log in for limited days each year.
Costs before the first order
The entry cost into platform work is not negligible, the IE report added. Delivery workers are required to pay for onboarding kits, including uniforms and insulated bags. Swiggy charges over Rs 1,200, while Zomato’s fee is close to Rs 1,800, with instalment options that deduct the amount from future earnings.
While companies state that coverage begins from the first day, access through the app is not always immediate. The IE report said that Blinkit and Zomato offer accident and health insurance, including coverage for accidental death. On Swiggy, access to insurance details remained unavailable during the reporting period.
Speed, weight and unpaid effort
The report also documents unpaid labour embedded in the system. At dark stores, delivery workers often assist with packing during peak hours to keep operations moving. Heavy grocery orders, sometimes weighing over 10 kg, must be carried up staircases in buildings without lifts, with little additional compensation.
In one instance cited by The Indian Express, a delivery involving a 2.5 km ride followed by multiple flights of stairs paid Rs 33, including a weight-based incentive of just over one rupee. “I am not sure I could have bought a chewing gum with that,” the IE report said.
Algorithmic control, not supervision
Without human supervisors, platforms rely on app design to enforce compliance. Loud alarm sounds accompany rejected orders or route deviations. Repeated cancellations trigger mandatory training videos warning workers about reduced payouts or account blocking.
Workers, quoted by IE, describe these alerts as deliberately disruptive, creating a sense of urgency and penalty even for minor deviations. The app functions as manager, timekeeper and disciplinarian, all at once, IE report said.
Parallel infrastructure, limited visibility
Delivery workers also navigate a separate physical infrastructure. The IE report said how access to restaurants in malls and high-end complexes is often routed through service entrances and designated lifts, keeping workers out of customer-facing spaces.
Despite completing dozens of deliveries, the reporter received no tips and minimal interaction with customers, reinforcing the transactional nature of the work, the report added.
As India’s gig economy is expected to employ 23.5 million people by 2030, the IE report details how delivery work functions as a stopgap rather than a livelihood. As the sector scales, this gap will become harder to ignore not only for regulators, but for platforms whose long-term sustainability depends on a workforce that can afford to stay on the road.