The dark underbelly of India’s fast-growing gig economy

Even as online delivery apps flourish in India, the bleak situation of the ‘delivery partners’ in the sector remains – i.e. the gig workers of the online delivery platforms – is largely ignored by India’s business-friendly government.

Delivery app on December 31st Blinkits CEO Albinder Dhindsa cited the company’s sales data that day to describe it as the company’s “highest order day ever.” In a series of posts on

In response to these celebratory tweets, stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra, who is known for his political satire and social activismquestioned Dhindsa about the ‘wages’ of Blinkit’s delivery people. “Can you also inform us with details about the average wages you paid to your ‘Delivery Partners’ in 2024 …” he wrote on X.

With no response from Blinkit’s CEO, Kamra reminded people of the “dark side” of the delivery app business. While “enjoying the convenience of high-speed commerce,” platform owners exploit gig workers. “They are not creating jobs,” he stressed, labeling online delivery platforms as “landlords without owning any land.”

The issues Kamra has raised are not new. The gig economy is notorious for its lack of transparency and the low incomes and long working hours of its ‘delivery partners’. She is accused of taking advantage of the desperation of India’s unemployed youth. While the latter have to work long hours for low wages, the online app makes enormous profits.

This isn’t the first time Kamra has burst the startup ecosystem’s festive bubble. In October 2024, he drew attention to how customers are being cheated with poor quality Ola electric bikes. Bhavish Aggarwal, CEO of Ola Electric, a start-up, resorted to one online brawl with Kamra when the latter exposed ugly facts about the workings of new technology startups.

The latest from the International Labor Organization India Employment Report 2024 points to alarming levels of unemployment in the country. Youth constitute 83 percent of the unemployed workforce in India. In 2022, the unemployment rate among educated youth was higher than among those who could barely read and write. Consider this: 29 percent of graduates and 18.4 percent of those who had completed secondary education were unemployed, compared to 3 percent of the uneducated who were unemployed.

The gig economy has rejected criticism of the sector, arguing that it provides employment and creates jobs. However, commenting on the rise of the gig economy, the ILO’s India Employment Report states that gig work in India has increased “but it is largely informal work with scant social services.”

While drawing attention to the exploitative practices of online platforms, Kamra highlighted the lack of legislation to protect workers and binding labor laws. In his series of posts on labeled as “partners” and no employees, didn’t even have copies of their contracts. He wondered why the Ministry of Labor did not take note of these exploitative practices.

Kamra’s tweets generated significant popularity, with several people sharing the inhumane working conditions of the delivery partners. Competing home delivery apps promise deliveries within 10 minutes, forcing delivery drivers to race through traffic and exposing them to the risk of road accidents. Job insecurity and income below the minimum wage after accounting for expenses were some of the issues highlighted by X users.

Under existing labor law, gig workers are not classified as employees nor covered by any employee welfare standards. They have been relegated to the largely unregulated, unorganized sector.

India’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government is business and industry friendly and has rarely taken steps that affect profit margins. It is accused of “shamelessly dismantle labor protection,” and the BJP governments, both at the Center and in the states, have not taken any concrete action for the benefit of the gig workers or their social security.

It is not that the BJP-led government is oblivious to the exploitation of gig workers. A 2022 report from NITI Aayog, the Indian government’s economic think tank, notes that the “lack of job security, irregular wages and the precarious employment status of workers” pose significant challenges to gig or platform work.

On the other hand, the Opposition Congress is taking up the gig workers’ cause. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has been consistent interact with Uber highlighting drivers and “partners” of the online delivery app and their plight. Soon after Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra, the long march across the country, the Congress government in Rajasthan introduced a law for the safety of gig workers. The landmark Rajasthan platform-based gig workers (Registration and Welfare) Act, 2023, levies a “welfare fee” on all transactions on online platforms, and gig workers and aggregators/online platforms must be registered with the state and are entitled to welfare schemes. Two other Congress-ruled states, Karnataka and Telanganahave started taking steps toward passing a bill for the welfare of gig workers.

However, enacting laws may not be enough. Unfortunately, after the BJP took over the government in Rajasthan, the Rajasthan Platform Based Gig Workers Act did not come into force. The required rules for the implementation of the Law has not been notified. The government would have difficulty implementing it.

Unfortunately, Social Security and fair wages for workers are being held hostage by the business-friendly policies of most state governments.