Delivery

Many people like groceries and other stuff delivered right to their doorsteps. But then, speed is overrated. Good old kirana stores offer some valuable to those with a surplus of time—and want to compare apples with apples.

The survey highlighted that many migrants who move to urban centres face loneliness and social isolation despite financial gains. This affects their mental well health and productivity at work, and can lead to early attrition, increasing costs for employers, it said.

The instinct to rein in quick commerce masks an abdication of responsibility. Unsafe roads, weak rule enforcement and poor labour oversight are failures of governance, not delivery apps. Expecting them to fill these gaps may be politically easy, but dodges the work of fixing institutions.

Social media has emerged as a parallel income stream, an extension of their primary gig, because it lowers entry barriers and rewards visibility.

The earnings of a gig worker are shaped less by fixed wages and more by a constantly shifting balance of supply and demand.

Quick commerce is becoming a habit for customers as platforms have started delivering everything from groceries and lifestyle products to high-end gadgets. Yet, next year may be even more challenging for the likes of Blinkit, Instamart and Zepto.

Delivery partners showed up as Swiggy and Zomato announced incentives to riders on New Year's Eve. Gig workers blame lack of unity for the failed protest.

Gig workers' representatives and policy experts said growing job numbers actually hide distress across the gig economy, and that more people are engaging in such work because of rising unemployment.