Delivery professionals of Zomato-owned quick commerce platform Blinkit met Gurugram Deputy Labour Commissioner Dinesh Kumar on Monday, April 17.
The riders who have been protesting since last week have sent a set of demands to the labour commissioner, according to a report by Inc42.
As per the Inc42 report, the demands submitted include increasing the minimum pay to Rs 25, no termination of access for a rider even if they are unable to log in for 20 days, reverting to giving payment from cash on delivery orders to SM (store manager) and arrangement of water and toilets for the drivers. Interestingly in February, Zomato introduced ‘The Shelter Project,’ which is aimed at providing delivery partners with ‘rest points’ to rest and recharge.
Since last week, some 2,500 Blinkit delivery staff in Gurugram have been on strike after the business cut the fixed payouts per delivery from Rs 25 to Rs 15. More employees are on strike in Delhi and Noida in opposition to this decision.
“They make us work for 12-17 hours in stores and now they want to cut the minimum pay cut. It's unfair to us,” a rider Suryakumar Jha told CNBCTV18.com.
Workers protesting in Gurugram told CNBC-TV18.com that they had signed up for Blinkit last year when the charge per order was Rs 50, but that it has since been dropped to Rs 25 per order and now they have further shrunk it to Rs 15.
“We work minimum 12 hours a day and do minimum 40-50 deliveries per day which resulted in Rs 1,000-1,200 as wage per day but now it will be around Rs 600-Rs 700 per day,” said another worker.
He added that inflation is rising day by day, petrol prices are increasing. If we do the same amount of work, how can they decrease our pay? This is betrayal.
Further, a few riders also alleged that their accounts have been temporarily suspended because they are participating in the protest.
Dark stores shut down
Additionally, Moneycontrol reported that workers on strike against lesser pay were informed by Blinkit that several of its dark stores in Gurugram are being shut down permanently.
Further, the Indian Federation of App-Based Transport Workers (IFAT) has urged Blinkit to reconsider its recent pay cuts for delivery drivers. In a press release Shaik Salauddin, IFAT’s National General Secretary, stated that the sudden reduction in wages not only undermines the workers’ hard work and dedication but also puts their livelihoods at risk.
Salauddin stated that 600 delivery workers met with corporate representatives on April 14 to try to come up with a solution, but the company was adamant on continuing with the salary cut.
According to BSE filings of the company, Blinkit delivered 3.2 crore orders to earn Rs 301 crore of revenue in the December quarter, while suffering an adjusted EBITDA loss of Rs 227 crore.
Gig workers: Little respect, few upskilling opportunities and unfair pay
Gig workers in India often face disrespectful behaviour and their schedules leave them with little opportunity to upskill.
“You people don’t know how to do anything else, that’s why you are in this job, so at least do this work properly, '' said a man as he drove his car away from 20-year-old Rajesh Yadav’s bike, which had hit his car at a junction.
"Humari kaun hi izzzat karega hum to ye aap logon ki tarah bade offices mai kaam thodi karte hai (people usually don't respect us as we don't do corporate jobs)," said Yadav, who is a bike rider with a taxi app.
The gig economy forms a huge part of the Indian economy. It is expected to employ 23.5 million people by 2029–30 and account for almost 4 percent of all income in the nation. Currently, there are 7.7 million gig employees, according to a research recently released by NITI Aayog in June 2022. Despite this, it’s not a part of labour laws.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her speech for Union Budget 2020-2021 announced a portal to collect information regarding gig workers for social security. “For the first time globally, social security benefits will extend to gig and platform workers. Minimum wages will apply to all categories of workers, and they will all be covered by the Employees State Insurance Corporation,” Sitharaman said in her Budget speech.
To replace 29 labour laws, the government established four labour codes in 2019 and 2020: Code on Social Security, 2020; Code on Wages; Code on Industrial Relations, 2019; and Code on Occupational Safety, Health, and Working Conditions, 2020. The Indian president has approved all the codes, but the administration has not yet put them into effect.
“Successful implementation of the labour laws would ensure fair/equal pay compensations and a safer work environment for employees. Further investing in skill development programmes and in creating awareness regarding their social security benefits, which include access to healthcare, retirement, maternity, housing, statutory benefits such as a PF account, are also required,” said Amit Nigam, Chief Executive Officer, Billion Careers.
Apart from fair pay and social security, experts have also pointed out that opportunities to gig workers for upskilling is a need of the hour.
As per another survey by CIIE.CO, a startup platform built at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad, from the 4,070 individuals surveyed, over 2,000 were 30 years of age or younger. It also pointed out that most of the respondents surveyed had worked in a gig economy platform as their first job. This is representative of young India finding the gig economy and its platforms as crucial sources of financial support and work opportunities.
“Gig working jobs offer flexibility, this helps them (people from the younger generation who are just starting) consider several career options before having to settle down on one by spending time acquiring the education and skills necessary for the job that interests them the most,” said Ujani Ghosh, Manager, Thought Leadership and Policy, IET India.
BetterPlace, a full-stack tech platform for frontline workforce management, recently released its index report for 2022, which showed that in FY22, eight million frontline jobs were created in the country. The report further mentioned that, even though there is huge demand and an adequate supply of employable frontline and gig workers in the ecosystem, their growth is stunted after a point due to a lack of digital and industry-specific skills.
(Edited by : Shoma Bhattacharjee)
First Published: Apr 17, 2023 7:01 PM IST
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