Why gig workers are striking on New Year’s eve, calling for a ban on 10-minute deliveries

After a first round of strikes on Christmas day that saw some impact on operations, delivery workers of companies such as Swiggy, Zomato, Blinkit and Zepto are carrying out a second wave of strikes on New Year’s eve, calling for a ban on 10-minute deliveries.

In a letter to Union Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, the Indian Federation of App-based Transport Workers (IFAT) — the key union behind the strikes — has called for a ban on unsafe 10-minute delivery models, fair and transparent wages, regulation of the companies under the recently notified labour codes, and recognition of their right to organise and collectively bargain, among other things.

“The government must intervene immediately. Regulate platform companies, stop worker victimisation, and ensure fair wages, safety, and social protection. The gig economy cannot be built on the broken bodies and silenced voices of workers,” said Shaik Salauddin, co-founder and national general secretary of IFAT.

The strikes mark the latest flashpoint in the rising conflict between delivery workers and platform companies after years of brimming discontent. As companies and lawmakers have romanticised the concept of firms offering “gig” work to people becoming an attractive avenue for employment, workers at these firms have been, for long, silently fighting many battles.

With an uncertain income, a low base pay, algorithms that they say pushes them to ride for hundreds of kilometres a day in return for disproportionately low cash, compounded by rising fuel costs, no social security benefits, and a faceless management, the money left in their hand at the end of each month is on a steady decline. The 10-minute delivery model, implemented by companies such as Blinkit, Swiggy and Zepto, has also added speed into the mixture, as workers rush to complete deliveries within a stipulated time.

The choice of the dates to organise the strikes — December 25 and December 31 — is a notable part of the process, as these are among the busiest days for home deliveries, and with workers choosing to boycott deliveries, customers could face long wait times.

Salauddin said that December 25 saw approximately 40,000 delivery workers from major platforms participate in the strike, protesting unsafe working conditions, unfair pay, algorithmic control, ID blocking, and denial of dignity and social security.

He said that during the strike, delivery workers faced “serious intimidation and harassment” by the companies, including blocking of IDs of key leaders, team leaders and active workers.

The first round of strikes on Christmas day saw between 50-60 per cent of orders delayed or disputed across multiple cities, Salauddin said, adding that companies attempted to break the strike by deploying third-party delivery companies such as Shadowfax and Rapido, offered extra incentive pay and also temporarily reactivated inactive IDs to manage operations. Among the most affected regions were Delhi, Karnataka, Hyderabad and Mumbai.

Earlier this year, the government notified the Code on Social Security, bringing gig and platform workers under a formal welfare framework for the first time. It enables their registration on a national database and opens access to schemes covering health, disability, accident insurance and old-age support. It  aims to give millions of workers basic protections despite their non-traditional employment structure.

Under the Code on Social Security, 2020, ‘gig workers’, ‘platform workers’, and ‘aggregators’ have been defined for the first time, as a person who performs work outside of the traditional employer-employee relationship. It envisions the creation of a Social Security Fund for gig and platform workers with contribution from Central and state governments, corporate social responsibility, fines collected due to compounding, etc.

Aggregators such as Amazon, Flipkart, Swiggy and Zomato will have to contribute 1–2 per cent of their annual turnover towards this fund, with the total contribution capped at 5 per cent of the amount payable by them to the workers.