Fast commerce businesses, such as Blinkit and Zepto, have made the choice on their own to stop claiming 10-minute deliveries in the fear of the mounting strain and stressful work environments of gig employees suggested by Union Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya. This is made upon the conclusion of negotiations that the government had with major delivery services, such as Blinkit, Zepto, Zomato, and Swiggy, in an attempt to resolve the problems associated with delivery schedules and employee safety.
Several sources in the news agencies highlighted that Blinkit already took the 10 minutes of delivery promise off its branding, and other fast-commerce companies will do the same in the next few days. This step will be included in a larger program to guarantee safer work environments and better welfare of gig workers who have become the center of the high-pressure model of delivery.
It is a move that comes after increasing calls by gig workers and some groups of the population to improve their payment and working conditions. Gig workers carried out a mass strike, New Year Eve, on December 31, protesting against the lack of breaks they received due to the high number of deliveries they were forced to make, and demanding more reasonable working conditions. The strike raised the question of the unsustainability of the expectations created by the ultra-fast delivery promises and nationalized the issue of the problems of the delivery workers.
During the rebranding, Blinkit also changed the tagline to a more realistic one of 30,000 plus products delivered at your doorstep instead of the previous 10,000 plus products delivered in 10 minutes, although it still focuses on variety and delivery to the door. Deepinder Goyal, the co-owner and co-founder of Zomato, which bought Blinkit, had previously dismissed the issue of unsafe driving in the case of the strike that happened on December 31, saying that the Blinkit riders usually cover a distance of about two kilometers with an average speed of 16 kmph. However, the new modifications will be designed to focus on the safety of workers and decreasing the mental and bodily pressure in the context of hyper-fast delivery models.
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