WORKERS’ TRAIL: Delivery boys: We have been deprived of rights

By Maqsood Maniyar | NT

Delivery persons in the city said that food aggregator companies should classify them as employees rather than “partners”, which deprived the workers of their rights.

They added that defining them as employees would regularise their positions somewhat and make them beneficiaries of the rights owed to workers under the law. A union of delivery workers even demanded that a law defining the rights of workers under the sector be passed.

All India Democratic Youth Organisation (AIDYO) district president and United Food Delivery Partners’ Union (UFDPU) president Vinay Sarathy said that food aggregators calling their employees partners was questionable. “We want a proper legislation in place for the platform economy. The exploitation in the sector is very bad. Identify them as workers because they work on the instructions of Zomato and Swiggy and are paid by them. They don’t use the word employee to hoodwink the law,” he said. “If you go through the agreement, it is so one-sided that it does not stand the test of the law. If you go through contractual law, it has to be on equal footing,” he added.

Sarathy said that Zomato had abolished old incentives and had instituted a system called gigs, which had diminished the delivery workers’ earnings. Gigs is a new time slot booking system introduced by Zomato. Gig refers to a time slot. Under the new system, the delivery agents are asked to book more ‘gigs’ to earn more. Those who book more gigs get a higher priority in receiving orders as well.

Abysmal pay
Chetan, a Zomato delivery worker said they were in a worse condition than contract employees. “We should be recognized as employees. If this happens, perhaps our pay will go up, we might be issued identity cards. This might legitimise our positions,” he said.

“Earlier, we used to work hard but at least got paid well. If we made around 600 deliveries, we’d make about Rs 40,000 in a month. Now we won’t reach that number even if we deliver 800 orders. We make Rs 25,000 on an average. There used to be incentives for night time deliveries. Now there aren’t. Meanwhile, costs incurred have gone up. Petrol costs a lot more. It’s around Rs 111 per litre now. They pay us Rs 25 per six kilometres. What is the point of being apart from our families, risking our lives on the road with urgent deliveries and making some Rs 700-800 per day?” he added.

“Ten minute deliveries put a lot of pressure on us. If we constantly deliver food say four or six minutes late, it’ll reflect as poor performance and from thereon we get fewer deliveries,” Chetan said.

Srinivas, who works for Swiggy said: “Employee status would give us better wages. Right now, we make little and don’t even get allowances for fuel and mobile internet.” Zomato delivery worker Hariprasad said: “I work part-time and go to college (undergraduate degree). I feel like the incentives were not what they used to be, especially for night time deliveries.”