Kunal Kamra takes on Deepinder Goyal after Zomato's ‘record’ NYE deliveries; netizens say...

Eternal founder and CEO Deepinder Goyal claimed that Zomato and Blinkit recorded their highest-ever single-day order volumes on New Year’s Eve, despite the nationwide strike by gig workers demanding better pay, safer working conditions, and social security benefits. He has since been extremely active on social media, defending the current ecosystem of gig work and addressing the doubts of netizens.

In a sea of opinions, stand-up comedian and political satirist Kunal Kamra doubled down on Goyal and asked him to share the hourly wage of a gig worker to “end the debate” once and for all.

“How much did they get paid hourly over the last one year. It’s just another number you have it, give it & end the debate…” Kamra asked.

“If you tell me they were at least paid 50 rupees every hour they were on the app. I’ll never tweet about gig workers again…” he added.

Goyal has not responded to Kamra as of the time of publishing this story; however, the stand-up comedian's post has left social media users divided and debating the math of the gig economy.

A user claimed that the approximate work for a gig worker is ₹28 per order, which he alleged the companies are trying to bring down to ₹14.

“It's approx ₹28 per order, and sir wants to bring that down to ₹14 because ₹14 is the minimum that he charges from the customer. End of the debate, he will exploit riders until they get another option for work, then, without any strike, he will increase payout,” the user said.

By Kamra's minimum of ₹50 per hour call, a user said, “50*8hrs*26 days = 10,400 ₹per month. Seems a very bare minimum wage to survive in BLR. It should be at least 15k imo.”

“All aside, @deepigoyal, can you confirm this number. Requesting for median, not mean. That’s a fair ask,” the user asked. “If platforms truly believe in the model, publish realised hourly earnings, including idle time. One number. One year. Debate ends.”

A netizen used a chef's example to put things in view, from the gig worker's perspective, and said: “Imagine demanding a chef stand ready in a kitchen for 12 hours, but only paying them for the minutes they spend cooking. The stove is off? The pay is zero. ​They are trapped, unpaid, waiting for work that might never come.”

“​We wouldn't accept this in a restaurant, but we accept it on an app. Exploitation is a rainbow—it hides behind colourful interfaces,” the user added.

However, a few users took a neutral stance on the issue, believing that, despite some system issues, gig work has helped several families.

“The gig economy feeds families right now. Fix gaps, add protections, but pretending it’s all exploitation helps no one,” one netizen said.

Another added, “The best thing the free market in the gig economy did is uproot urban unemployment at the base . This has single handedly reduced petty thiefs and snatching activities. Gig economy, as it is, gives incentives to work more and earn more.”

Team Deepinder Goyal defends gig work

Several netizens in the comment section defended the gig economy and Goyal, saying that targeting the sector doesn't help “because this does employ a lot of people, around 1 crore people.”

“…But no one trapped them for this job,” a user said.

Another user said, “The guy delivering your food, he might be doing this to save for a bike, pay off a loan, or support his family while he looks for a permanent job.”

“He chose this because it pays better than the alternative. If he had a ₹40k desk job waiting for him, he’d be there. He’s here because this is his best option right now. They all do this willingly so let's not pretend it's not helping anyone,” another user highlighted.

Talking numbers, a netizen said, “If you actually do the math and divide the total number of orders among 450000 riders with an average compensation of 30 rupees per ride (very conservative) and considering that they were 10 hours on the job, the math actually comes down to 50 rupees per hour. But you'd never know.”

“Kunal, Deepinder's already shared the big picture; the gig economy is powering livelihoods for millions voluntarily. But since you want numbers, Zomato delivery partners averaged ₹28,000/month in 2024, with about 7 hours daily login time. Quick math, that's roughly ₹130-150/hour, way above your ₹50 benchmark. Deal's a deal, time to hang up the tweets on gig workers?” another user said.