Quick commerce firms to rethink 10-minute delivery after govt intervention, gig workers' strike: Report

India’s quick commerce companies may have to rethink their much-touted 10-minute delivery promise. A report by news agency ANI on Tuesday said the Union labour minister has urged major delivery platforms to move away from aggressive timelines, citing concerns around rider safety and working conditions.

The ANI report, citing unidentified sources, said labour minister Mansukh Mandaviya held discussions with leading quick commerce firms and asked them to remove the 10-minute delivery deadline from their operations and branding.

Blinkit has already acted on the guidance and removed the promise of 10-minute delivery from its branding, the report said. The company’s main tagline—10,000 plus products delivered in 10 minutes—has been updated to “30,000 plus products delivered at your doorstep,” the sources cited above told ANI.

Other platforms could follow in the coming days, the report added.

Blinkit, Swiggy and Zepto declined to comment on Mint’s queries when contacted. A spokesperson for BigBasket said the company has not received any official statement from the government. The labour ministry has not issued any official statement.

Late on Tuesday, in a statement to the Bombay Stock Exchange, Blinkit-owner Eternal Ltd said, “…with respect to our quick commerce business Blinkit, there is no change in business model that could have any material impact on the company.”

While industry stakeholders such as unions of gig workers and consumer product distributors staunchly supported the move, analysts pointed out that companies already have systems in place for quick deliveries, and the Centre’s reported intervention won’t make much of a difference.

Unions celebrate, analysts sceptical

“I definitely see this as a win, and all our efforts of the strike carried on the 25th and 31st of December have translated to this,” said Shaik Salauddin, founder of Telangana Gig and Platform Workers Union, and co-founder of the Indian Federation of App-Based Transport Workers. “A minister interfering will definitely have a weightage and now we need the companies to comply as well.”

Nirmal Gorana, national coordinator of Gig and Platform Service Workers Union (GIPSWU) told Mint that the union had sent a letter to the National Human Rights Commission seeking the “end of the forced labour and 10-minute delivery as it pushes the gig workers beyond limits and brings added pressure for faster delivery.”

Gorana added that on 26 January—when India celebrates Republic Day—the union is planning to have a strike where the gig workers will be ‘logged off,’ and on 30 January, a nationwide satyagraha is planned.

The government’s reported move comes after a strike attempted by gig workers unions on New Year’s Eve petered out, but the issues of safety and working conditions continued to linger in social and political forums. The strike was rendered largely ineffective as platform riders did not want to lose their chance to earn additional income after the firms offered them incentives for a day, as per a Mint report.

The All India Consumer Products Distributors’ Federation (AICPDF), a collective of traditional FMCG distributors, also welcomed the reports of the labour ministry's move, adding that the promise to deliver goods in 10 minutes was “misleading and unsafe”.

“However, AICPDF firmly believes that this direction must now be rigorously implemented, continuously monitored, and strictly enforced by the concerned departments,” the federation said in a media statement.

On the other hand, Karan Taurani, analyst at brokerage firm Elara Securities, said that companies removing the 10-minute promise is unlikely to have an impact on their business, as users continue to be loyal to instant deliveries despite slightly longer timelines.

“Quick commerce has become a habit-driven proposition, and a few extra minutes, if at all, will not impact greatly,” said Taurani. “Moreover, removing the 10-minute promise is simply a marketing technicality, since quick commerce platforms already have the capability to deliver in under 10 minutes in many metro pockets.”

Labour Codes pinch

All online delivery platforms must now provide extra benefits to their gig and platform workers, under the new labour codes that the Union government announced on 21 November, which looked to streamline 29 existing labour laws into four codes.

Mint reported the same day that platforms such as Swiggy, Zomato, Amazon, Flipkart, among others, will now be required to allocate up to 2% of their annual turnover — capped at 5% of the amount paid or payable to workers — for the welfare of gig and platform workers.

Under the new mandate, all workers would get benefits such as retirement savings through the provident fund, coverage under the Employees' State Insurance Corporation, and other insurance and social security benefits.