Swiggy’s food delivery services were disrupted in parts of Chennai on Wednesday, after delivery executives went on strike over the revised salary plan.
Several users took to Twitter to share their anguish over Swiggy not delivering to their localities. For parts of Chennai, especially south Chennai, a message saying ‘Temporarily unavailable. We’re sorry. Delivery is not possible at the moment due to unforeseen circumstances’, appeared on the app.
There were also pictures on Twitter of delivery executives gathered in pockets to protest the new salary plan.
"The protests are over the newly devised salary plan," says Vigneshwaran, a Swiggy executive in Chennai. "Delivery boys are protesting in various pockets across the country. On Monday, a new scheme was brought out which said that instead of the Rs 36 that we were getting, the amount will be reduced to Rs 35 for the first four kilometres. We didn't think much of it because it was a reduction of just one rupee," he adds.
But over the last two days, executives allegedly noticed a sharp decrease in the charges following deliveries. A delivery from T Nagar to Guindy, which would usually fetch them over Rs 80 was coming up to only Rs 50.
"We realised that the money we usually got for waiting time and the total amount for delivery, were being reduced without any explanation," says the delivery executive. "In addition to this, incentives were being withheld over paltry excuses of login time. Earlier, someone who worked 70 hours got Rs 450 as incentive. Now, even if he works for 90 hours, incentive is not given sometimes," he adds.
Responding to a query from The News Minute, a Swiggy spokesperson said that services were disrupted only in a handful of areas.
“It is our constant endeavour to provide our delivery partners with industry-best payouts. The revised payout scheme is in alignment with the efforts of our partners on-ground, and takes various parameters including peak hours and distance into consideration. We remain committed to serving the city of Chennai, while ensuring that our delivery partners have access to additional earning opportunities, incentives and benefits. We regret the inconvenience to our users in Chennai and are working hard to resume services in these areas at the earliest.”Swiggy Statement
While the revision of the payout scheme has just been done, Swiggy is reportedly working with delivery executives to explain how it will not result in a reduction in overall payout.
Delivery executives protesting across Chennai claim that the agitation is actually pan-India. Customers from Bengaluru and one from Coimbatore also took to Twitter to complain about the strike.
“Swiggy is on strike in Coimbatore. I'm from Thudialur. I tried to order from restaurant to my old-aged father in my home at Coimbatore. You guys could have informed customers about the strike so that we could make alternate arrangements. Thank you Swiggy for keeping us hungry,” a user tweeted.
However, Swiggy refuted these claims and said that services have only been disrupted in parts of Chennai with services running normally in the rest of the country.
(This article was originally published on The News Minute.)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)