10-Minute Delivery in Relentless Rains: What it Costs Riders and What They Earn?
Delivery persons work 12-16 hours daily & earn Rs 1,000. Heavy rains add to their expenses—fuel, raincoats, damages.
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The recent torrential rainfall hit urban areas hard. Rivers swelled, cities were inundated, and normalcy pushed to a grinding halt.
Just last week, following heavy downpour in the National Capital Region (NCR), a viral video showed serpentine traffic snarls in Gurugram, stretching for kilometres. An officegoer described spanning a distance, which usually takes him 30 minutes, in six hours that day.
But the implication of this would be entirely different for a delivery person, whose primary job description is to race against time, and deliver groceries at the doorstep within 10 minutes, come hell or high water.
“Sadak par paani jama ho jaata hai to gaddhe nahi dikhte (Due to waterlogging on the roads, the potholes are not visible). This leads to accidents; either the bike gets damaged, or I get wounded or worse, both. On top of that, I lose the day’s pay,” said Mohan* (*name changed), a delivery person from Delhi.
Quick commerce, which involves delivery of goods in 10-30 minutes, is the fastest growing segment of e-commerce and includes apps like Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart, Zepto, BigBasket, etc. Myntra and Nykaa are also pivoting to 30-minute deliveries. The sector is powered by millions of delivery persons, who risk their lives daily for the sake of our convenience.
In this story, The Quint speaks to delivery persons about their work culture, wages, and woes and if quick-commerce platforms have any measures to safeguard them from adverse-weather events, in this case heavy rains.
'Earn Rs 1,000 After Working 16 Hours a Day; Rain Adds to Expense'
“I ride 16 hours daily to deliver 30-35 orders. For this, I earn around Rs 1000-1200 per day. Of this, I spend Rs 300-400 on petrol for refuelling the bike,” said Mohan*, who works as a delivery person with Blinkit.
Intense rainfall followed by heavy waterlogging has, however, added to his expenditure.
It is important to note here that a significant proportion of delivery persons are migrant workers, who have rented bikes to work in cities.
On being asked if the quick commerce platform has provided them any protective gear, Mohan* said that workers are required to purchase raincoats, phone and shoe covers from the platform itself.
"Raincoats and phone covers are are basic occupational necessities for delivery persons during heavy rains, yet many cannot afford them and resort to makeshift solutions like using cardboard as a windscreen to protect their phones. Platforms should provide them free of cost," said Nitesh Kumar Das, Organising Secretary, Gig Workers Association (GigWA).
'Drop in Wages, No Overtime, Salary Less than Bare Minimum'
Manish, a Varanasi-based delivery person formerly employed with Blinkit, told The Quint that their wages have dropped to nearly half over the last five years.
“Earlier, we earned Rs 60-65 for each order delivered. Now, its reduced to Rs 30-35 per order. So, if I work 12 hours a day, delivering 30-35 orders, I get a payout of Rs 545 plus incentives for completing a task—like additional Rs 100 for 10 orders,” Manish claimed.
But isn't the net payout still less than the minimum wages prescribed for eight hours of work?
“Delivery persons end up working more than 12 hours but receive no overtime, making their wages less than the bare minimum. Denial of minimum wages is pushing millions of gig workers towards forced labour. In fact, the International Labour Organisation clearly dictates that piece-rate (per unit or per delivery) wages won't be allowed if they don’t guarantee minimum wages,” said Preeti Choudhary, Member, Gig & Platform Service Workers Union (GIPSWU).
27-year-old Manish had raised these concerns back in April, when over 150 Blinkit workers went on a 2-day strike to demand fair pay and better working conditions. Since then, Manish’s ID has allegedly been blocked by Blinkit, and he now works as a helper at a shop to support his family of five.
'Entitled to Insurance But Hardly Get Claims'
“We have an OPD insurance of Rs 5,000; accidental insurance of Rs 1 lakh; and a life insurance of Rs 10 lakh. They are valid only at government hospitals. Not many workers are literate and know how to file for claims, while those who do land in an endless back-and-forth with the manager. We keep submitting documents, they keep rejecting them,” claimed Manish.
Meanwhile, Mohan* alleged that in case of accidents, the platforms are not prompt. He recalled, “In June, my colleague was electrocuted due to a loose hanging wire and lost his life. His family is still fighting for compensation.”
This indicates two problems:
Red taping keeping workers from their entitled claims
Lack of worker education and training at the time of onboarding
21-year-old Arun, who joined Swiggy Instamart two months back, has passed Class 12 but couldn’t go to college. In addition to delivering orders for 10-11 hours daily, he helps his father at his shop.
When asked about onboarding, Arun quipped, “We need a functioning mobile phone and bike for this job. There is a training programme on the app itself. But there is no support from our manager. If we get stuck while raising tickets or seeking claims, at best we can write in chat support window, which is English.”
'Platforms Taking Advantage of Rampant Unemployment'
Since delivery persons working for app-based platforms come under the purview of gig workers, they are paid only on the days they work. Leaves due to sickness, accidents or emergencies would directly translate to wage loss.
“If we raise any concerns, we are asked to either work as is or leave. Khaali baithne se achha kuch to kaam kar lein. Bhukhmari aur berozgaari ka fayeda uthate hain (It’s better to do some work than to sit idle. They take advantage of poverty and unemployment),” Manish lamented.
Meanwhile, Choudhary asserted that delivery persons have become victims of wage hunting, i.e. they are willing to do any kind of work for wages lesser than the prescribed minimum wages as long as they aren't jobless.
'Still No Laws to Protect 1 Crore Gig Workers'
“If I get delayed due to rains, then the customers hassle us, behave rudely with us. Hum bhi to insaan he hain (We are also humans),” Mohan* lamented.
Das asserted that delivery workers face pressure from platforms that deny them protections, from consumers who often complain or give low ratings if there are delays, and from the very city they traverse daily. “The city, which is their workplace, doesn’t offer good roads, clean washrooms, safe drinking water, or rest stops," he said.
India’s gig workforce is projected to grow from 1 crore in 2024–25 to 2.35 crore by 2029–30, the Union Labour Ministry has stated. Yet a solid central regulation still seems to evade the gig sector, thanks to a tricky definition.
In India, gig workers are defined as those “who earn their livelihood outside the traditional employer-employee setup.”
While Rajasthan was the first state to pass a law for registering gig workers in 2023, it has not been implemented yet. Karnataka, Bihar and Jharkhand have recently passed Bills for the same. Delhi, however, is yet to frame laws for safeguarding gig workers’ rights.
The Quint has sent a detailed questionnaire to the quick-commerce platforms mentioned in the story on the nature of remuneration, social security benefits, worker education and training. The Quint will update the story once they respond.