8 highlights
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Consumers took to express delivery in droves and companies poured in money to fund them. But eventually, as losses mounted, they began to lengthen their delivery timelines. With venture capital funding drying up in the wake of war in Europe, fears of recession and tighter monetary policy, these startups have in recent months looked for ways to reduce costs. Prime among the costs they want to cut are payouts to delivery partners, in different ways.
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When they went on strike, the company disabled the accounts of some of their colleagues, according to delivery partners in Noida.
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These long distances for pickups and deliveries are a result of another cost-cutting measure. To serve new areas speedily, companies need to set up more dark stores nearby. But dark store networks are a significant capital expenditure, and it would appear that delivery companies have gone slow on expansion recently.
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A screenshot of one such order showed a total order earning of Rs 47 for a distance of 10.32 km, although Google Maps showed the distance as 13 km. “That’s the problem in the app, hence it reduces our pay,” he says.
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Dunzo partners also mention other issues. They don’t get paid if a customer cancels an order while they are on their way to deliver it. The company, they complain, pays lower incentives than promised. Last week, when it rained in Delhi-NCR for close to three days, the delivery partner says, the company paid the Rs 20 rain surge for just one hour.
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Advocate Mayank Arora says that the relationship between the companies and the platform workers is essentially governed by a contract, with little bargaining power for the workers. The companies are well within their rights to alter the terms of the payouts without consultation. “It is only natural that initially, the payouts will be lucrative and later the companies will wear them off once the business needs are settled and the model is up and running,” says Arora.
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The Social Security Code, 2020, which is yet to be implemented, proposes to recognize labour rights for gig workers. The provision is that the central and state governments shall frame and notify schemes from time to time for such workers. But “all the issues flagged by these workers, including the minimum assured payout, won’t be addressed by the Social Security Code,” says Sanjoy Ghose, senior advocate in the Delhi High Court.
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Four labour codes—the Code on Wages, Industrial Relations Code, Social Security Code and the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code—are set to replace 29 labour laws in India. Of these, only the Social Security Code defines any rights for gig workers, he points out. But the code only recognizes a need for social security systems; it doesn’t provide for minimum wages or several other rights.