Former Jet Airways chief executive Sanjiv Kapoor on Thursday questioned the need for 10-minute deliveries in India’s quick commerce model.
Kapoor’s remarks came amid a nationwide gig workers’ strike over pay, safety and social security benefits, bringing renewed attention to the pressure and sustainability of ultra-fast delivery timelines.
‘Do we really need 10-minute deliveries?’
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Kapoor asked whether such rapid deliveries were necessary in India’s congested urban conditions, except in medical emergencies.
“Would 30 minutes or one hour delivery—without so much pressure and need for speed—be the end of the world?” he said, adding that longer delivery windows could help balance safety and environmental concerns through pooled deliveries and fewer individual trips.
Kapoor later clarified that he was “not outraged” by the model but was raising a broader question around safety and sustainability.
Goyal says speed is driven by store density
Responding to outrage on X, Zomato‘s Deepinder Goyal said the 10-minute delivery promise is enabled by the density of dark stores, not by asking delivery partners to rush.
According to Goyal, orders on Blinkit are typically picked and packed within about 2.5 minutes, after which delivery partners travel an average distance of under 2 km in roughly eight minutes, translating to an average speed of around 15 kmph.
He added that delivery partners do not have a delivery timer displayed on their app and are not penalised for delays. Goyal also addressed questions around rider welfare, hiring and attrition. He said all delivery partners are covered by medical and life insurance, and that gig work is not intended to be permanent employment.
“Attrition is about 65% annually, which reflects the temporary nature of gig work rather than exploitation,” he said, adding that anyone with a valid driving licence and a clean background check can work as a delivery partner.
He argued that many people choose gig work voluntarily for its flexibility and that speaking directly to riders offers a more nuanced view of the work than online debates suggest.
Some users questioned why delivery partners are often seen rushing or breaking traffic rules. In response, Goyal said delivery riders are not uniquely reckless, but their visibility—due to uniforms and delivery boxes—makes their behaviour more noticeable.
Wider debate on gig work and safety
The exchange triggered a broader discussion online, with some users supporting Kapoor’s view that consumers would be willing to wait longer if it reduced pressure on delivery workers, while others argued that time scarcity is driving demand for ultra-fast deliveries.
The debate has unfolded alongside a strike called by gig and platform workers on New Year’s Eve. The Gig and Platform Service Workers Union said more than one lakh workers across 22 cities participated, demanding better pay, safer working conditions and social security benefits.
Goyal, however, said operations at Zomato and Blinkit were largely unaffected and that the platforms recorded their highest-ever single-day order volumes on New Year’s Eve.
Goyal later expanded the debate in a longer post, arguing that the discomfort around gig work stems less from economics and more from visibility and guilt. He said the gig economy has, for the first time at scale, made the labour of the working class visible to the consuming class, forcing face-to-face interactions that were historically absent.
“For centuries, class divides kept the labour of the poor invisible to the rich,” Goyal wrote on X, adding that gig platforms have changed this dynamic by bringing delivery partners directly to consumers’ doorsteps, making inequality personal rather than abstract.
According to him, much of the criticism of gig work reflects unease with this visibility rather than a genuine concern for dignity or livelihoods. Goyal warned that banning or over-regulating gig work would not eliminate inequality but would instead push workers back into informal, less accountable arrangements, removing income opportunities rather than improving conditions.
“The doorbell is not the problem,” he said, arguing that the challenge lies in using this discomfort to build better systems rather than retreating into “invisibility, where inequality exists but remains unseen.
Blinkit’s financials
The public debate comes as Blinkit continues to scale rapidly. In the second quarter of FY26, Blinkit’s net order value rose 137% year-on-year and 27% sequentially, as per the company’s exchange filing.
The company added 272 net new stores during the quarter, taking its total dark store count to 1,816.
Adjusted EBITDA margins for quick commerce improved sequentially to -1.3% of net order value, from -1.8% in the previous quarter, although the company said margin expansion was slower than expected due to additional investments aimed at gaining market share.
Zomato Share Price
Zomato’s share price remained flat during intraday on Friday. The stock is down at 5.29% in the last 1 month. However, it has remained flat in 2025.