Tens of thousands of application couriers in India ended 2025 on strike, protesting against a system that, according to them, is marked by relentless pressure. One of the requirements is to deliver the items in less than 10 minutes.
These workers demand “fair pay, dignity and security”, as well as the immediate ban on a marketing strategy that requires them to deliver purchases to any address, within a radius of approximately three kilometers, within 10 minutes. It is not an easy task in Indian cities, which are clearly congested.
Furthermore, they protest against the automatic systems that are used by platforms to penalize couriers and to reduce their assessments when there are delays. They also demand comprehensive social security, including health insurance and retirement. According to the Indian trade union federation representing transport workers, which organized the strike, more than 200,000 joined.
Although rapid trade is a global phenomenon, in India – a country with 1.4 billion inhabitants, where every month around a million people join the job market – this area has become a real battleground.
Supported by an expanding middle class with money to spend, speed has become an essential weapon when companies fight for market share.
And the market is really huge: Swiggy has a market capitalization of around 9.4 billion euros; rival Zomato of around 24 thousand.
There are companies – such as Swiggy’s Instamart, Blinkit or Zepto – promising deliveries in 10 minutes, making this interval one of the pillars of their marketing. It is a strategy that, according to workers, is built at the expense of their safety and well-being.
Furthermore, many platforms do not consider couriers to be their employees, legally evading their responsibility to cover the rights that workers demand.
Couriers rest in New Delhi during the nationwide strike (Hindustan Times/ShutterstocK)
A 41-year-old Swiggy courier working in the city of Hyderabad tells CNN that he receives a base value of 5 rupees (less than five cents) for each order. There is potential to earn more depending on the number of orders and the distance travelled. He works every day from 7pm to 5am, he explains.
“We have to pay for our own fuel and motorcycle maintenance,” he says. He requests anonymity for fear of reprisals.
“A day, at least 50 rupees (about 53 cents) go to buy food. I couldn’t imagine doing this at the age of 40, but I have no other choice”, he laments.
This man became a courier after his bookstore closed during the Covid-19 pandemic. He earns around 20 thousand rupees per month, which is equivalent to around 190 euros. More than half of this money is used for the rent and school fees for their five children. The family lives on a tight budget, from paycheck to paycheck.
CNN contacted Swiggy, Zomato, Blinkit, Zepto, as well as the Indian Ministry of Labor for further explanation.
In a post on
“Support from local law enforcement authorities helped keep a small number of offenders under control,” he writes. “If a system were unfair in essence, it would not consistently attract or retain so many people who choose to work in it”, he adds.
In response, at
Passing red traffic lights
The New Year’s Eve strike highlighted the deep divide between the convenience offered to customers and the livelihoods of those who enable it.
On the one hand, in a country with a huge working-age population, platforms like Swiggy and Zomato end up offering jobs to millions of people. They have been praised for their efficiency. India’s temporary workforce is expected to reach 23.5 million by 2030, according to a 2023 report by government research agency Niti Aayog.
Passengers in a platform connection area at a railway station in Mumbai, India, on July 11 (Divyakant Solanki/EPA/Shutterstock)
Critics, however, argue that this model creates a new form of exploitation.
“When it started, the idea of being your own boss and earning your own money was something that appealed to people,” says Ria Kasliwal, an independent public policy consultant whose research focuses on the gig economy in South Asia.
“But, essentially, what it ended up doing, to a large extent, was formalizing the informality of workers”, he summarizes.
In other words, the system takes advantage of the instability of informal work – no job security, no fixed salary, no benefits – and incorporates it into a controlled corporate structure.
Mohammad Numan, 30 years old, a Swiggy courier in Bombay, the financial capital of India, feels that the precariousness is too great, to the point that he cannot afford to lose a day’s salary to participate in the strike.
“It’s a difficult job, but there’s no other option. I have to do it to make money,” he says.
He describes an exhausting routine, often working 16 hours a day to complete the 35 to 40 orders needed to achieve Swiggy’s goals. After paying for fuel and other expenses, he says, he has around 700 rupees (less than seven euros) a day left.
There is also pressure for deliveries to be quick. “For a distance of one kilometer, we are expected to deliver in three to four minutes. For four kilometers, in around 10 minutes”, shows Numan.
Commuting movements in Varanasi, India, on December 10 (Niharika Kulkarni/AFP/Getty Images)
“To meet these times, we have to drive fast. If we don’t, we won’t be able to reach our goals. When I receive an order, the only thing I think about is delivering it quickly, so I can accept more orders.”
Another courier, also working in Mumbai, says that, most of the time, he needs to “run red traffic lights” to make deliveries on time.
“We are penalized if we don’t do it. And, if we are caught, we have to pay the fine out of our pocket. We are penalized anyway”, says the Zepto courier, who does not identify himself for fear of reprisals.
Goyal, co-founder of Zomato, has already defended the promise of 10-minute deliveries on the social network X, arguing that this is “made possible by the density of stores” existing close to customers’ homes.
“After placing the order on Blinkit, it is separated and packed in 2.5 minutes. Then, the courier drives, on average, less than two kilometers in around eight minutes. That’s an average of 15 kilometers per hour”, he argues.
“Working with fear”
In 2020, India’s central government introduced a labor reform that promised social security coverage for all workers integrated into this economy based on temporary work. However, implementation of this and other protections has been slow across the country.
In 2023, Rajasthan became the first state to pass a law regulating the economy based on temporary work, creating a commission to establish a social security fund and deal with complaints related to these matters.
Karnataka – home to the country’s technology hub, Bengaluru – and the state of Jharkhand also passed their own legislation last year, with Telangana exploring similar measures.
The economy based on temporary work has also been highlighted for its ability to attract more women into the workforce. Faced with public pressure, some platforms have introduced benefits such as accident insurance or basic health insurance.
A Zomato courier crosses a flooded street in Mumbai on August 19 (Ashish Vaishnav/SOPA Images/Shutterstock)
However, many of these independent workers complain that these benefits are, in most cases, difficult to access. Several protests in recent years have highlighted the need for greater transparency and greater scope in the application of these benefits.
Manoj Kharade, who works for an app that provides home beauty salon services, explains that he joined the strike to demand fixed wages and social security.
If you don’t achieve the company’s objectives, your account on the platform is blocked – something that affects your ability to earn money, he says. Kharade emphasizes that he works up to 15 hours a day, earning around 25 thousand rupees a month (less than 240 euros).
“We are working in fear. If we don’t reach the goal, it affects my family. If I don’t have income, we are ruined.”
