Food delivery runs smoothly on New Year’s Eve despite gig workers’ strike

A section of gig workers on Wednesday staged a strike demanding better pay and working conditions, but the agitation had minimal impact on e-commerce and online food delivery platforms, which reported robust business on New Year’s Eve.

While demonstrations were held in some areas, companies including Zomato and Swiggy offered additional incentives to delivery partners – a standard practice during festive periods – to ensure uninterrupted services during the busy year-end period.

The Telangana Gig and Platform Workers’ Union (TGPWU) and the Indian Federation of App-Based Transport Workers (IFAT) claimed that lakhs of workers are expected to participate in the nationwide strike to press for higher payouts and improved working conditions.

Despite the strike call, company insiders said operations were largely unaffected. Zomato offered delivery partners ₹120-150 per order during peak hours between 6 pm and midnight on New Year’s Eve and promised earnings of up to ₹3,000 over the course of the day, depending on order volumes and worker availability. The platform also temporarily waived penalties for order denials and cancellations, which it described as part of standard procedures during high-demand festive periods.

"This is part of our standard annual operating protocol during festive periods, which typically see higher earning opportunities due to increased demand," an Eternal spokesperson told PTI. Eternal owns the Zomato and Blinkit brands.

Swiggy also increased incentives over the year-end period, offering delivery workers potential earnings of up to ₹10,000 across 31 December and 1 January. On New Year’s Eve, the platform advertised peak-hour earnings of up to ₹2,000 for the six-hour period between 6 pm and midnight to ensure sufficient rider availability.

"At Swiggy, we are committed to empowering our delivery partners. As part of our standard process, enhanced incentives are offered on special occasions such as festivals, allowing delivery partners to benefit from increased earning opportunities during peak demand periods across the year," the company said.

In a joint statement, TGPWU and IFAT said: "As of last night, over 1.7 lakh delivery and app-based workers across India have confirmed participation, with numbers expected to rise further by evening."

The unions noted that following the large-scale strike on 25 December, thousands of delivery workers had logged off platforms across Telangana and other regions. They added that the December 31 strike had been escalated after companies failed to address workers’ concerns.

"The December 25 action sent a clear warning to platform companies about falling earnings, unsafe delivery pressure, and loss of dignity at work. However, companies responded with silence — no rollback of reduced payouts, no dialogue with workers, and no concrete assurances on safety or working hours. This continued indifference has made today’s strike unavoidable," the statement said.

The Gig and Platform Service Workers Union has also called on all gig, platform, digital, app-based workers, and online freelancers to participate in the national strike by shutting down all work-related applications and abstaining from providing services on 31 December, “thereby making the strike united and effective.”

Supporting the workers, AITUC general secretary Amarjeet Kaur said gig workers should be granted the status of industrial workers. "They are usually referred to as partners by the platforms they are associated with," she added, noting that three out of four labour codes make no mention of gig workers.