BENGALURU: On-demand house-help services platforms such as Urban Company’s Insta Help, Snabbit and Pronto are facing a workforce shortage across major cities including Mumbai, Bengaluru and the National Capital Region, leading to limited availability and rescheduled or cancelled bookings.
Even as the platforms try to scale up to meet demand, users have reported difficulty securing slots for same-day or even next-day services, particularly for routine cleaning services. The disruption comes as demand for app-based home services continues to grow, driven by dual-income households and a shift towards convenient platform-based hiring.
“I’ve tried booking a cleaner multiple times in the last two weeks and either there are no slots or the booking gets pushed to the next available day,” said a Bengaluru-based user who did not wish to be identified, adding that Pronto and Urban Company currently only allow scheduled bookings (not help within minutes) for their area.
A user in Mumbai recently purchased Insta Help’s three-day pack but has been unable to find vacant slots.
“The app simply says it will notify you when slots are available. I haven’t received a single update in two weeks,” this person noted.
Gig workers generally travel to their villages during school summer breaks in the summer months and to help with the harvest. This year, the impact was amplified by elections in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, which drew large sections of the workforce away from cities.
There is “unusually high demand in a small number of micromarkets,” a Pronto spokesperson said, responding to Mint’s queries. “Reliable domestic help has been harder to find across these cities in recent weeks, and a large number of households have turned to Pronto for help. The category has been growing steadily for several quarters, and this surge has come on top of that.”
Return to normal
Pronto, which employs 3,000 workers, said its daily bookings have grown from roughly 1,000 to over 18,000 over the past eight months and they are currently growing at over 20% week on week. The spokesperson said more trained professionals are joining Pronto every day and its supply base is the largest it has ever been.
“Our service areas, operating hours and onboarding remain unchanged. We expect service to return to normal at the end of the week,” the spokesperson added.
A Snabbit spokesperson said the movement in workforce availability during this time of the year reflects “short-term mobility patterns rather than a structural shift.”
Snabbit currently employs more than 15,000 workers and serviced more than 1 million bookings in March alone, according to the company.
“Just as with any category powered by a gig workforce, there are inherent cyclical trends, and we are actively doubling down to ensure any near-term disruptions are effectively managed. Platforms like Snabbit are built to bring greater predictability and resilience to a historically fragmented category. We remain focused on ensuring continuity for customers while supporting our service partners with flexibility during such periods,” the spokesperson added.
Urban Company did not respond to Mint’s emailed queries. Estimates for Urban Company's workforce were not available.
Meanwhile, the workers are stretched, picking up as many as 10 jobs a day.
“Some of the bookings are 3-4 km away from each other so we get very few breaks in between,” said a Bengaluru-based Pronto worker, asking to remain anonymous.
At the same time, platforms are struggling to formalize and scale up the largely informal domestic workforce quickly enough to match rising demand.
Unlike other gig sectors, onboarding domestic workers involves higher levels of trust, training and verification, slowing the expansion of supply, according to Balasubramanian Anantha Narayanan, senior vice president at staffing firm TeamLease Services Ltd. The mismatch appears structural as much as seasonal.
“There is a clear demand surge in urban markets, but the ability to skill, onboard and retain workers at that pace is still evolving,” Narayanan told Mint.
The current disruption comes even as the broader market shows strong momentum. India’s online home services market, which includes instant maid services, is projected to expand at a compounded annual growth rate of 18-22% to ₹85-88 billion by FY30, driven by rising urban demand for convenience, according to a September 2025 report by Redseer Strategy Consultants.
Attracting investments
Investors, too, are doubling down on the opportunity. Last week, Snabbit raised $56 million in a Series D round from Mirae Asset and Susquehanna Venture Capital at a valuation of about $400 million, taking its total funding to $112 million within two years of launch. Pronto raised $25 million from Epiq Capital in March at a post-money valuation of almost $100 million.
Urban Company said during its December quarter earnings call that it will continue to invest in Insta Help, which recorded operating revenue of ₹6.8 crore in the period.
Yet, the funding momentum contrasts with on-ground realities. Domestic work remains fragmented, with workers moving between informal networks, multiple platforms or alternative gig roles. Rising expectations around pay, flexibility and working conditions are also reshaping supply, making retention harder for platforms trying to standardize services.
Narayanan noted that while progress is being made, supply will take a while to catch up.
“It will take some time for platforms to skill workers fast enough to meet demand, but it will happen. Organizing any unorganized industry isn’t easy,” he said.