Zomato: Deepinder Goyal, founder and CEO of Zomato’s parent company Eternal, has said that the company’s food delivery unit (Zomato) fires about 5000 gig workers every month. He revealed this while talking in the podcast of YouTuber Raj Shamani.

Lakhs of gig workers leave their jobs on their own

He also said that apart from being fired from the job, about 1.5 lakh to 2 lakh gig workers leave the job on their own every month. Apart from this, the company hired around 1.5-2 lakh new people every month. Till the last quarter, food delivery was Eternal’s biggest business. Then it was overtaken by its quick commerce unit Blinkit.

However, Gurugram based Zomato is still the biggest profit earning engine for the company, Apart from Zomato and Blinkit, Eternal District also runs an outgoing business on labels and a business-to-business (B2B) grocery supply vertical Hyperpure,

Reason for mass layoffs

Regarding people leaving the job of delivery boy on a large scale, Deepinder said, many people consider this role to be temporary. Some people choose this work in case of sudden need of money and then leave the job after earning money as per need.

Talking about large-scale retrenchment of people from jobs, Deepinder said that many times there are fraud related incidents behind this, such as delivery partners showing the food as delivered even when it was not delivered or cases where customers were promised change for cash-on-delivery orders, but they never received it.

Facilities for gig workers

He also wrote on the facilities provided to gig workers, the demand for PF or guaranteed salary for gig workers like full-time employees is not right according to the model for which it has been created. This is because there is no fixed shift for delivery partners. They are not assigned any fixed location for work. They themselves decide when to log-in and log-out. Or they have to deliver to some place in the city. They choose their own location. They have the freedom to add or remove locations for work as per their choice.

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Big news came amidst the strike of gig workers, social security benefits will be available only after fulfilling these conditions.

The new Labor Codes to be implemented in India from April 1, 2026 will bring a big change for crores of workers.

The biggest benefit will be given to gig and platform workers, who are being included in the scope of social security for the first time.

Under the rules, if a worker works for 90 days with any one aggregator or 120 days in the previous financial year on more than one platform, he will be eligible. The day on which earnings are earned will be considered a full working day.

The government has sought suggestions on draft rules. According to Labor Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, the target is to provide social security to 100 crore workers by March 2026.

Appointment letter, free health checkup, equal pay and women’s right to work in all shifts will also be ensured.

Social Benefits For Gig Workers: Gig workers were on strike on New Year’s Eve over their working conditions and better pay. Meanwhile, the Central Government has brought such a formula for such gig sellers, only after completing which they will be able to avail social security benefits. According to the proposed draft issued by the Union Labor Ministry to seek public opinion, for this, during the current financial year, gig and platform workers will have to work with a single aggregator for at least 90 days or with multiple aggregators for 120 days. This notification from the government came on December 30, a day before the announcement of a strike by gig workers on New Year’s Eve.

Digital cards will be issued

The government has made a provision to make registration mandatory for workers in the unorganized sector on the portal designated by the Central Government. According to the rules, every eligible and registered unorganized worker will be issued a digital identity card, which will contain his photograph and other details prescribed by the Central Government. It is noteworthy that the Labor Ministry has already started the registration process on the e-Shram portal, which is the national database of unorganized workers.

Through this portal, registered workers will be able to get the benefits of various social security schemes along with identification. The rules also state that eligible unorganized workers will have to update their address, profession, mobile number, skills and other necessary information from time to time. If a worker does not update these details regularly, he may be disqualified for the benefits of social security schemes.

What are the rules in the draft?

According to the draft rules, if a gig worker or platform worker does any work for an aggregator on any calendar day, no matter how low the income, and earns income from it, that day will be considered as one day of engagement (engagement day) with that aggregator. If a gig or platform worker works for more than one aggregator, his total engagement days will be calculated by adding up the work done with all the aggregators.

The special thing is that if a worker is associated with three different aggregators in the same day, then that day will be counted as three days of participation. The rules also clarify that eligible gig or platform workers will include all those employed by an aggregator directly or through its associate company, holding company, subsidiary, Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) or any third party.

Also read: Gig workers strike winds down, record delivery on New Year Eve, know what Zomato CEO said

Before New Year’s Eve, today (31st December), gig workers (all delivery workers including Swiggy, Zomato, Amazon, Flipkart) have announced a strike across the country. In such a situation, there may be problems in ordering food for the New Year party and in online delivery. Gig workers are on strike demanding fair wages, safety and many other demands.

National General Secretary of Indian Federation of App-Based Transport Workers (IFAT) Sheikh Salauddin said that today gig workers across the country will keep all app-based platforms off and hold peaceful demonstrations at major places. Let us tell you that people doing online delivery are called gig workers.

He told that on December 25, online platform companies were given a strike warning, but no talks were held with the gig workers, nor were any security and working hours fixed. That is why strike has become necessary again today on 31st December. He said that online platform companies are silent on all these demands. The government should immediately intervene regarding the demands of gig workers.

‘It became difficult to get incentives’
Sheikh Salauddin said that this is not just a protest but a fight for the survival and basic rights of gig workers. The salary of gig workers has been reduced based on the orders received. Apart from this, compensation based on distance and time has also been reduced. He said that by doing this it has become difficult for the workers to get incentives and it has been changed arbitrarily. The result is that gig workers are earning less than before and having to work more to fulfill orders.

‘Gig workers are being exploited’
He also said that gig workers are being exploited through online algorithms. 10 minute delivery means more delivery pressure. In such a situation, there is a risk of accidents and mental stress due to driving at high speed. Gig workers are not machines but giving incentives for working long hours, all these things force them to work for 10-10 hours.

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Gig Workers on Strike: Gig workers associated with major online shopping and delivery platforms like Amazon, Zomato, Swiggy, Blinkit, Flipkart and Zapto have announced to go on a nationwide strike from December 31, 2025. Along with this, the gig workers who were on strike since December 25 are also continuing their agitation with these demands. Gig workers say that the purpose of this strike is to put pressure on the companies, because their working conditions are getting worse with time, while the profits of the companies are continuously increasing.

gig workers strike

This strike is being organized under the banner of Telangana Gig and Platform Workers Union and Indian Federation of App-Based Transport Workers. Unions claim that this will include not only major metro cities but also a large number of gig workers from Tier-II cities, which could have a widespread impact on delivery services. According to union leaders, on one hand the demand for fast and timely delivery is continuously increasing, on the other hand workers are neither being paid commensurately nor are they being provided safe and respectable working conditions.

The biggest concern of gig workers is about the app-based control system. He says that payments, delivery targets and incentives are decided entirely through algorithms, in which transparency is almost negligible. According to the workers, the risks involved during delivery rest entirely on them, while the deadlines are kept very strict. Additionally, frequent changes in the incentive structure make their income unstable and uncertain, which seriously impacts economic security.

Protest against working conditions and pay

The union statement said that delivery workers act as the backbone of the platforms, especially during weekends, peak hours and festivals, but despite this they are facing problems like long working hours, insecure delivery deadlines and continuously decreasing earnings. Gig workers say that their protest will continue until their demands related to working conditions, remuneration and social security are not seriously considered.

Also read: From Adani-Ambani to Birla, how was this year 2025… who suffered loss, who became peerless?