Food delivery platforms Zomato and Swiggy have announced higher incentives for their delivery partners ahead of New Year’s Eve, as gig workers’ unions across the country called for a strike that threatened to disrupt services during one of the busiest nights of the year.
According to PTI, both companies rolled out enhanced payouts to ensure enough delivery partners stay active during peak hours on December 31. The platforms maintained that such incentive boosts are a routine measure during festive periods when order volumes surge.
The move came after several workers’ unions, including the Indian Federation of App-based Transport Workers and the Gig and Platform Service Workers’ Union, urged delivery partners and quick-commerce workers to log out of apps on Wednesday. The unions are demanding wide-ranging reforms in the gig economy, including regulation of platform companies under labour laws, an end to unsafe “10-minute delivery” models, and protection against arbitrary account suspensions.
Workers are also seeking fair and transparent pay structures, social security benefits, safer working conditions, and the right to organise and engage in collective bargaining. The strike call affected operations of major platforms such as Zomato, Swiggy, Blinkit, Instamart and Zepto in several cities, just ahead of New Year celebrations, The Hindu reported.
Amid the protest call, Zomato reportedly offered delivery partners Rs 120 to Rs 150 per order during peak hours between 6 pm and 12 am on New Year’s Eve. The company also indicated that delivery workers could earn up to Rs 3,000 during the day, depending on order volume and availability. In addition, penalties related to order rejections and cancellations were temporarily waived, according to sources quoted by PTI.
However, a spokesperson for Eternal Limited, which owns Zomato and Blinkit, said the incentives were part of the company’s standard operating approach during festive seasons. The spokesperson said higher payouts during such periods are common due to increased demand and are not linked to the strike.
Swiggy also announced special year-end incentives for delivery partners. As per PTI, the platform offered potential earnings of up to Rs 10,000 across December 31 and January 1, along with peak-hour payouts of up to Rs 2,000 for the six-hour window between 6 pm and midnight on New Year’s Eve. Company representatives said the aim was to ensure sufficient rider availability during one of the busiest ordering windows of the year.
Meanwhile, unions claimed strong participation in the protest. As of Tuesday night, more than 1.7 lakh delivery and app-based workers across India had confirmed their participation in the strike, according to a joint statement issued by the Telangana Gig and Platform Workers’ Union and the Indian Federation of App-Based Transport Workers.
The unions had earlier staged a similar strike on December 25, which saw thousands of delivery workers logging off platforms. They said that action was meant to highlight falling earnings, unsafe delivery pressures, and deteriorating working conditions.
In their statement, union representatives said companies failed to respond meaningfully after the earlier protest. They alleged there was no rollback of reduced payouts, no engagement with workers, and no assurances on safety or working hours. This lack of response, they said, left workers with no option but to intensify their protest during the New Year period.
