Food delivery services via Swiggy were affected in several parts of Mumbai on Sunday and Monday after delivery executives associated with the platform went on strike. Instamart delivery also was impacted.

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The strike was first called by the Rashtriya Karmachari Sena and some delivery executives gathered in Bandra to protest against Swiggy. The protest eventually extended to other locations as well with delivery executives protesting in pockets across the city.

According to some delivery executives that CNBC-TV18 spoke to, the strike has been called over reduced pay & incentives and an increased delivery radius. One executive said that while they had a 4km delivery radius earlier, this has been extended to 6km, but without any increase in the payout.

"They are now giving us orders to Dadar and beyond, but are paying us just Rs 20-25 for those orders, which means we don’t really make any money on that order," a Bandra-based delivery executive alleged on condition of anonymity.

Mumbai me Swiggy app ko Bain hi kr dena chachiye pic.twitter.com/ltNBX25wGW

— pratap singh bajetha bajetha (@bajetha_pratap) October 7, 2023

Another delivery executive alleged that incentives also have been reduced and sometimes they are forced to work until 3:00 AM to be able to clock enough number of orders in a day to make a decent daily earning.

Also Read: Some Swiggy bills carry an extra charge, sparks outrage on social media

"Petrol prices also rose, all costs have increased for us. We are barely earning anything now. We need better working conditions to work," another executive said. This also comes at a time when order volumes have increased on the back of the World Cup.

Meanwhile, Zomato’s services haven’t been impacted yet by the strike, with industry sources suggesting that Zomato’s delivery executives are not participating in the strike. CNBC-TV18 has written to both Swiggy and Zomato. The story will be updated when they respond.

Hi Lucky, we’re currently not serviceable in this location due to operational constraints. Please keep an eye on the app for real-time updates.

^Sharon— Swiggy Cares (@SwiggyCares) October 9, 2023

Hey @SwiggyInstamart @Swiggy @SwiggyCares, explain this to me how adding products and removing them makes your instamart closed and open.

Let me guess, you want to charge rain surcharge on Swiggy Instamart orders. You don't want the order price to be 200 and give free delivery pic.twitter.com/XyYWu9KAbq— Deepak Nahar (@itsmedn7) October 9, 2023

@SwiggyInstamart @Swiggy It has been more that 2.5 hours since my order on instamart. The support person says there are no delivery people( in central Mumbai, BKC ) and dont know how much more time it will take. But the thing that bothers me is resturant orders are working BAU ? pic.twitter.com/jjL1jfa4Eh

— Subham Bhutoria (@subhambhutoria) October 8, 2023

According to the Indian Federation of App-Based Transport Workers (IFAT), whose members are also participating in the strike, concerns of delivery executives also extend to larger issues like the need for a Social Security Bill like the one recently introduced by the government of Rajasthan where a welfare cess, a fee on each transaction generated in the platform, which is deposited into a dedicated social security fund for the welfare of gig and platform workers.

"A tripartite board comprising representatives from aggregators, worker organizations, and the government, responsible for administering social security schemes for gig and platform workers should also be formed.

Also Read: What the LYNK deal means for Swiggy

All gig and platform workers on boarded with the aggregators' platforms should be automatically registered with the board and be eligible for the benefits," Shaik Salauddin, National General Secretary of IFAT said.

While the Swiggy delivery executives are calling this an indefinite strike, it is still unclear how long the strike will go on and what the impact on Swiggy’s services will be during this period.

(Edited by : Shoma Bhattacharjee)

First Published:Oct 9, 2023 8:09 PM IST