At 6 am, with the sun just rising over Delhi, Akash Singh* is already on the move. A Zepto delivery worker, he zigzags between Laxmi Nagar and Mayur Vihar, chasing the shifting incentive targets set by the app.
“There are no real breaks anymore,” he claims. “Lunch is when I’m stuck in traffic. Even after all that, I’m lucky if I save Rs 200 by the end of the day.” Singh works from early morning till nearly midnight, but he says what wears him down isn’t just the hours but the feeling that the system is rigged against him. “The pay isn’t right for my effort. But I can’t stop because the app doesn’t stop.”
Gig workers like Akash form the invisible infrastructure behind India’s booming quick e-commerce sector. And many are unhappy. Last week, more than 150 Blinkit delivery workers went on strike in Varanasi. Their demands – fair incentives, heat protection, payment transparency, and the right to organise – echoed protests in Delhi-NCR last year.
Quick commerce – the ultra-fast delivery of groceries and essentials within 10 to 20 minutes – has become the latest frontier in the gig economy which continues to expand in the country. As per the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India, the country’s gig economy is growing at a compounded annual growth rate of 17 percent and is projected to surpass $455 billion by 2024. According to a report by the government think-tank NITI Aayog, India’s gig workforce is expected to expand to 23.5 million workers by 2029-30, three times the estimated 7.7 million in 2020-21. Another report by the Boston Consulting Group predicts that the gig economy has the potential to serve up to 90 million jobs (roughly 30 percent of India's non-farm workforce), and add up to 1.25 percent to India's gross domestic product in the long run.
‘More work but less pay’
Sunil Kumar*, a Blinkit rider in Delhi, switched from construction work in December, lured by the promise of better pay. “Earlier, I earned about Rs 700 a day after expenses. Now it’s down to Rs 500 even though we are working 12 to 15 hours a day,” he says. On April 26 and April 27, Kumar joined over 150 fellow Blinkit delivery workers at the strike in Varanasi’s Shri Ram Colony.
Riders allege that Blinkit has systematically reduced incentive rates while intensifying performance expectations. Initially, they earned Rs 130 for 15 deliveries, Rs 155 for 18, and Rs 555 for 32. Now, the compensation structure has shifted dramatically: Rs 205 for 30 deliveries, Rs 245 for 35, Rs 338 for 40, and Rs 448 for 43.
Compounding these financial pressures is a requirement that riders remain logged in between 12 pm and 4 pm – precisely when temperatures reach dangerous levels in many parts of India – to qualify for daily incentives. “If we don’t stay logged in for at least three-and-a-half hours, we lose out on our daily bonuses,” claims Sunil.
Gig workers claim the app’s routing system introduces additional burdens for them. Pranav*, another delivery partner, alleges the platform often displays inaccurate delivery locations – sometimes off by up to a kilometre. “The app shows the location early, but the customer wants doorstep delivery. We don’t get paid for that extra distance, and we bear the fuel cost.”
After the April 2023 strike, the company had said, “Over the last few days we have made changes in the delivery partner payout structure with respect to the Blinkit business to address the needs of delivery partners, improve customer experience and reduce cancellation/order rejection frauds by few delivery partners in the system. Such changes are done from time to time, as needed.”
A Blinkit spokesperson had said then, “We have introduced a new payout structure. This is an opt-in exercise, and our teams are on the ground to answer any question from the partners.”
Retaliation
When workers launched their strike last week, the company’s response was swift, workers claim. On April 27, a Blinkit representative threatened strikers with police action, they alleged. Multiple riders claim being coerced into signing declarations that loosely translate to: “if in future I am involved in any wrong act the company could take action against me.”
These gig workers allege they were forced to record videos of themselves holding these signed declarations while requesting account reactivation – videos they had to send via WhatsApp. While some accounts were subsequently restored, approximately 30 workers remain locked out at the time of writing this report.
On Thursday, a group of riders who are still blocked on the app protested again in front of a Blinkit store in Ranipur area of Varanasi. Newslaundry reached out to the store manager, who directed us to a security and loss prevention executive. Calls for comment remained unanswered.
Blocking the very IDs workers need to earn their livelihood appears to be a standard corporate response to worker organisation, say experts. According to Dinesh Jotwani, a Supreme Court advocate specialising in labour law, “a company can’t block the IDs of riders just because of the strike…there’s no grievance redressal mechanism for these workers who are essentially treated like contractual workers.”
Another advocate, Dinkar Sharma of Jotwani Associates, claims the company had no right to demand such declarations. "It is unconstitutional. The riders are considered formal employees in practice, and hence the company has no right to demand such declarations.”
“There’s like a script given to store managers to deal with strikes,” claims Ambika Tandon, a PhD scholar studying gig work and member of the Rajdhani Workers Union. “The response is almost always: if you don’t like it, leave.”
Tandon explains how the delivery system actually functions: once an order is placed, it’s the store’s responsibility to prepare the items. A rider is then assigned based on several factors, including whether they’re already waiting at the store, their performance score, and the value of the order. “If it’s a high-value order, the platform prioritises riders with higher scores,” she says. “Other factors – like whether the rider uses a motorcycle or an electric bike – also play a role.”
According to Tandon, a rider’s score is calculated not just through customer reviews, but also by how many orders they complete within a given time period – especially how consistently they meet the promised 10-minute delivery window.
Meanwhile, gig workers with several other quick e-commerce platforms claim they face similar problems.
Chandra Prakash*, who works with Zomato – the parent company of Blinkit – in south Delhi, claims he makes his deliveries using an electric vehicle which is not suitable for long distances. He claims the company has expanded his delivery zone from two local areas to 15, stretching all the way to Gurugram. “Because of the long distances, my profits have gone down. I barely make Rs 20–25 per order, and with delivery locations so far away, there’s hardly anything left as profit.”
Corporate claims
Blinkit’s FY24 annual report proudly claims: “By March 2024, we had installed over 650 Automatic Weather Stations (AWS) across 60 cities to help delivery partners respond to extreme weather.” The report suggests these systems ensure workers stay hydrated, take breaks, and dress appropriately for weather conditions.
The reality? “Nothing has been done for heat protection,” claimed Sunil. “No water, no shaded area, nothing.”
The Blinkit uniform is made of polyester and riders claim they have to keep it on because the app asks for selfies every three hours.
The Delhi Heat Action Plan 2025 mentions work hours from 7 am to 1 pm and 4 pm to 6 pm, but according to Amjad Hassan, the general secretary of labour union Delhi Asangathit Nirman Mazdoor Union, “gig workers are still out of its ambit. We have written to the Labour department to include them.”
Newslaundry has sent a questionnaire to Blinkit requesting comment. This report will be updated if a response is received.
The classification problem
The structural vulnerability of delivery workers stems from their deliberate classification not as employees but as “value chain partners” – a designation that strategically exempts Blinkit from standard employer responsibilities.
Sanjay*, a Blinkit delivery partner, claimed that after he met with an accident earlier this year, he “wasn't even given any money to pay my hospital bills; forget about insurance”.
“If gig workers are not formal employees, how can companies punish them for not logging in or striking,” asks Tandon, highlighting the fundamental contradiction at the heart of gig work. “How can you deny them the rights of a worker while holding them to obligations like one?”
The Narendra Modi government had launched the e-Shram portal to register gig workers in order to provide them social security. But only around 70,000 gig workers have registered so far. “Awareness is low, and few riders have registered,” claims Jotwani.
On Tuesday, the striking Blinkit workers formalised their demands through an appeal to the Additional Labour Commissioner in Uttar Pradesh, requesting fair incentive structures, safety protections, and an end to arbitrary ID blocking. Newslaundry has seen a copy of their letter.
Newslaundry reached out to Zepto and Zomato for comment. We also reached out to the office of the Additional Labour Commissioner in UP for comment. This report will be updated if a response is received.
*Names changed to protect identity
In times of misinformation, you need news you can trust. We’ve got you covered. Subscribe to Newslaundry and power our work.
Newslaundry is a reader-supported, ad-free, independent news outlet based out of New Delhi. Support their journalism, here.
