'Many Questions Remain Unanswered': Gig Workers Union Reacts To Deepinder Goyal's Post On Wages, 10-Minute Delivery

(MENAFN- Live Mint) In response to a series of posts by Zomato CEO Deepinder Goya defending quick-commerce and gig model, a gig workers union issued a sharp rebuttal, alleging that Goyal is“trying to save himself” amid mounting pressure at an an organizational level.

“Goyal's response on the crisis through his posts on social media platform X helped the common masses to understand what was going on internally. However, many of our questions still remained unanswered,” Shaik Salauddin, the founder president of Telangana Gig & Platform Workers' Union (TGPWU) told ANI on Saturday.

He proposed that the chief executives of the food delivery platforms and gig workers should sit together to discuss what is right and what went wrong to resolve the issue.“Even after the repeated threats from the CEOs, the gig workers continued the peaceful strikes resulting in delays in 60% of orders,” he added.

These remarks comes shortly after several delivery workers linked to e-commerce platforms staged protests across several cities, demanding better pay, safer working conditions and social security benefits.

'This is just a teaser'

Referring to the worker's strikes on Christmas and New Year's eve, Salauddin warned that "if the problems are not resolved, then let me tell you, this was just a teaser, more it yet to come."

“10-minute delivery is a mental, and physical stress for all the delivery boys," he claimed, adding that this quick delivery service should be removed immediately.

Also Read | What Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal says on gig workers' strike

Notably, Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal has reiterated his stance following a purported strike call by certain gig workers, which has brought the gig-model into the spotlight. Over the past three days, Goyal has shared a series of posts on X defending gig work and quick commerce mode.

Goyal argued that these platforms provide livelihood opportunities to people from economically weaker sections, who otherwise could have been unemployed.

Goyal shares fact-sheet on the income of delivery partners

On Thursday, 2 January, Goyal shared a“fact-sheet” about average hourly earnings of Zomato delivery partners, among other details. He claimed that the gig workers' earnings has increased by approximately 10.9% year-on-year in 2025, reaching ₹102 compared to ₹92 in 2024.

Goyal shared this data on X (formerly Twitter), additionally noting that if a partner works for 10 hours a day for 26 days a month, the gross earnings translate to approximately ₹26,500.

Also Read | Zomato's Deepinder Goyal responds to allegations of AI-generated emotional post

The top executive emphasised that the delivery partners have the freedom to choose their work areas and log-in and log-out time. He also shared a lot of other details regarding the gig work model, including insurance structure, flexibility and safety of partners.

Company leaders side with Goyal

Earlier, prominent investor and Naukri founder Sanjeev Bikhchandani weighed in on the gig workers' debate, appreciating Zomato's Deepinder Goyal's remarks on the one-day strike, while taking an indirect swipe at those alleging that these workers had been exploited by quick commerce companies.

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