Eternal says no to NDMA’s mandatory midday shutdown advisory for heatwaves
Unlike past advisories by the NDMA, this is the first to explicitly recognize platform-based gig workers in national heatwave guidelines and outline responsibilities for digital platforms.
Food delivery firm Eternal (Zomato) said on Wednesday it will not heed an advisory by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) that calls for platform-based firms to suspend gig-work between 11am and 4pm during rain- or heatwave-related IMD alerts.
“The 11am-4pm window is a peak period for food delivery, and mandating a shutdown during this time would significantly affect the earnings of both our restaurant and delivery partners. Given this, we have not enforced a platform-wide pause," said an Eternal spokesperson.
“Given the extreme weather conditions during these months, April to June is when delivery partners earn the highest per-order payouts," they added.
"Our decision reflects a deliberate, balanced approach - one that aligns with the intent of the advisory, while recognising the realities of partner livelihood and customer need. Instead of a one-size-fits-all mandate, we’ve chosen to support our partners through choice and care: empowering them to opt out without consequence, and equipping those who choose to work with targeted measures that offer both immediate relief and long-term support during high-heat hours."
Unlike past advisories by the NDMA, which is under the home ministry, that broadly addressed informal workers, Tuesday's advisory is the first to explicitly recognize platform-based gig workers in national heatwave guidelines and outline responsibilities for digital platforms.
Business dynamics
This comes at a time when platform business dynamics are already strained, as Zomato reported that the average monthly active delivery partner count has remained relatively flat over the last five quarters, despite increasing demand.
CFO Akshant Goyal said during the Q1FY26 earnings call, “The number of hours they (delivery partners) spend changes. And that's also seasonal. We see a lot of delivery partners spending less time on the platform in certain months, around certain festivals and vice versa more time around other times in the year…The number of delivery partners therefore is not always necessarily equal to the log in hours that we get."
He clarified that a more meaningful metric tied to business performance was the total log-in hours of delivery partners, given the flexible nature of gig work.
“Secondly, utilization — or rather, the idle time of delivery partners on the platform — continues to come down," Goyal said. “As that happens, we’re able to do more orders with the same number of log-in hours. It’s actually a good thing because it makes our business more efficient while, at the same time, it increases the earnings of delivery partners. Therefore, I don’t see a constraint in terms of availability of delivery partners on the growth of the business at this point."
Over the last five quarters, the average number of monthly active delivery partners has remained in a narrow range, starting at 469,000 in Q1FY25 and rising to 509,000 in Q1FY26. The quarterly figures were: 498,000 in Q2FY25, 480,000 in Q3FY25, and 444,000 in Q4FY25.
In Q4FY25, Eternal CEO Deepinder Goyal had highlighted a shortage of last-mile workers as a key factor contributing to the slowdown in the food delivery industry.
Queries sent to Swiggy and Zepto did not elicit a response till press time.
“Depending on the city, around 25% to 35% of daily orders are delivered during this 11 am to 4 pm. A shutdown during these hours would mean a significant loss of business for both restaurants and platforms—and ultimately for delivery partners too," said Satish Meena, co-founder of Datum Intelligence.
Rain-related Orange Alerts are already being managed by food delivery and e-commerce companies, often through customer notifications or by slowing down operations, he added, “But heat is a new challenge—and it lasts much longer, especially in northern India."
“We typically see a spike in demand during times when people are unable to step out," said Prakash Gupta, an independent researcher on gig economy.
“There is already an additional ‘rain fee’ charged during deliveries in bad weather," said Gupta.
The purpose is twofold: to compensate for the extra effort required by the delivery partner—who receives a share of that fee—and to create a slight barrier for consumers by adding a cost to discourage non-essential orders during such conditions, he added.
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