Capitalmind CEO weighs in on Deepinder Goyal's gig worker debate – ‘Everyone cribs about their job, but...’

Capitalmind CEO Deepak Shenoy has joined Eternal founder Deepinder Goyal in the debate on the gig worker economy, as thousands reportedly participated in a nationwide strike on New Year's Eve, demanding better pay, safer working conditions, and social security benefits.

In a series of tweets, Goyal explained that every delivery partner typically travels less than two kilometres in roughly 8 minutes, with an average speed of 15 kmph, to deliver to customers.

Shenoy weighed in on the topic, saying that customers don't mind waiting for even 30 minutes, but if the stores are in such close vicinities, as Goyal said, the delivery persons can even walk and deliver in less than 10 minutes.

“It's sometimes far less than 10 m for me, and I don't care, I would easily wait 30m, but the dark store is like 200 meters away, so they could walk and deliver in 10,” the Capitalmind CEO said.

According to PTI, citing the Gig and Platform Service Workers Union (GIPSWU), reported that more than 1 lakh workers across 22 cities participated in the strike.

However, Shenoy claimed that the gig workers did not feel “oppressed” enough to participate in the strike. “The point about the delivery folks not participating in the strike is simply because they don't feel oppressed enough.”

“Almost everyone cribs about their job. Even founders do, but they don't have anyone to blame. It's ok to feel like you deserve more, but entirely something else to give up your income for that ask,” he noted.

What did Deepinder Goyal say?

Deepinder Goyal claimed that the strike did not affect Zomato and BlinkIt, which actually saw “record” numbers on New Year's Eve.

Goyal said Zomato and its quick-commerce unit, Blinkit, “delivered at a record pace” on 31 December — with more than 4.5 lakh delivery partners across both platforms to fulfil over 75 lakh orders for more than 63 lakh customers in a single day.

He praised delivery partners who, according to him, “showed up despite intimidation, stood their ground, and chose honest work and progress.”

In a separate tweet, he clarified that nothing happens if the order is not delivered on time. “Nothing happens if they don't deliver on time. We understand that things go wrong many times.”

Goyal also said that every delivery partner has medical and life insurance, noting that gig work is not a permanent job and, therefore, there is no career progression in the profession.

However, he acknowledged that no system is perfect and there is always scope for improvement.