Overview
- Union labour minister Mansukh Mandaviya asked e-commerce and food delivery firms to remove 10-minute delivery promises, citing risks to riders’ safety.
- The December 31 delivery-partner strike reignited scrutiny of gig work but reports indicated limited disruption, underscoring workers’ constrained leverage in a large labour market.
- Platform leaders defended their models as still largely unprofitable, with Zomato’s Deepinder Goyal sharing internal data of about Rs 102 per hour in 2025 and average tips near Rs 2.6 per hour.
- Analyses urged a middle path that mandates algorithmic transparency, creates platform-agnostic social security, and shifts incentives away from extreme speed toward reliability and safety.
- Commentary highlighted consumers’ role in driving ultra-fast expectations and suggested choices such as slower delivery windows or tipping, even as broader capital–labour imbalances and automation pressures persist.