Swiggy Delivery Executives From Delhi Go On A Strike; Second After Bengaluru & Mumbai

Foodtech giant Swiggy’s delivery workers went on a strike in New Delhi on Wednesday (27th July) for reduced payouts and not offering a social safety net– that includes non-contributory assistance offered to financially weak employees. 

The strike took place in Lajpat Nagar, Delhi, close to Swiggy’s Instamart dark store.

The ET report quoted sources as saying that delivery partners’ strikes are very common now. Swiggy has slightly slashed their payouts in Delhi against which delivery workers went on a strike. Such strikes recently happened in Bengaluru and Mumbai too.

As per Swiggy, the strike ended by 1 PM and services of Instamart were presumed across New Delhi on Wednesday.

Inc42 has reached out to Swiggy, seeking confirmation and the story will be updated their responses.

According to an Inc42 report, associations that were supporting protests against Swiggy in Bengaluru informed that they would hold a bigger protest if the foodtech startup doesn’t resolve these issues in a week’s time. 

It also said that the foodtech giant had slashed delivery executives’ pay out from INR 30 per order to INR 20 in Bengaluru without considering the rising fuel prices and cost of living in the city. Through this strike, the delivery executives sought to increase their wages and demanded not assigning orders to third-party service providers such as Shadowfax and Rapido.

Recently, quick commerce startup Dunzo allegedly sent a message to its delivery executives, threatening them with permanent suspension if they were found to be at a strike or supporting one.

As per an Inc42 report, a message shared by Dunzo’s delivery executive stated, “It is to inform you that any ID found at the location of a strike will be permanently suspended. Please don’t be a part of a strike or support a strike either.”

The Indian Federation Of App-Based Transport Workers (IFAT) extended support to Dunzo’s delivery executives. It condemned Dunzo’s moves stating that its marketing gimmicks are taking a toll on delivery executives. 

IFAT further said that instead of threatening delivery partners, Dunzo should offer better working conditions to them such as minimum wage, health plans and social security net. 

In the meantime, India’s quick commerce segment has become a hot topic of discussion in the Parliament. Recently, DMK MP Kanimozhi raised the issue of a quick commerce delivery model involving workers to ship products within a tight-timeframe of 10-30 minutes. 

Several bodies and MPs have crticised quick commerce startups for making their delivery executives drive faster to fulfill quick delivery promises, which can be potentially perilous for them. 

As per a NITI Aayog report, there were 7.7 Mn gig workers working in India in 2021. The count of gig workers is likely to grow to 23.5 Mn by the end of 2029-30.