Swiggy delivery executives in Gurugram protest a drop in incentives

As a sign of protest, almost 50% of Swiggy’s delivery fleet in Gurugram has boycotted work. The food delivery app has been unserviceable since yesterday in several parts of Gurugram and other areas in the NCR region — including locations such as Sohna Road, Golf course Road, Sector 55, 56, 50 and 29.

Deliveries in Northwest Delhi such as Ashok Vihar and Shalimar Bagh were not being serviced by Swiggy. According to the company’s delivery personnel, this is due to a strike they are on due to cut in commission and other payouts. 

According to over a dozen delivery executives Entrackr spoke with, Swiggy had slashed the incentive amount for night deliveries by 50% from Rs 20 to Rs 10. They have cut the incentive on deliveries beyond a 5-kilometre limit.

The company has attempted to pacify the delivery workers by extending revised payouts but riders seek clarity and guarantee that their earnings will not be reduced in the future. 

“Field executives of Swiggy have ensured that the existing payout structure will continue. But we are worried about how things will pan out in the coming months,” a delivery executive told Entrackr, requesting anonymity.

The revision of such fees has triggered a strike by delivery executives in the millenium city. It’s not clear why Swiggy has not been delivering in Shalimar Bagh and Ashok Vihar. It’s worth noting that Zomato has also not been operating in these locations.

Besides food delivery, Swiggy’s grocery offering Swiggy Stores has also taken a hit by the strike. While Swiggy hasn’t responded to our detailed queries for the story, one of its executives looking after operations in NCR said that the issues claimed by riders are not true.

“Revision of fee and incentive structure happened sometime in the past. The present strike has nothing to do with it. In fact, hundreds of riders abuse minimum guarantee pay which Swiggy promises to them,” said the executive. “They usually log in but refuse to take delivery requests. We have been getting rid of such riders. In a reaction to that, they are staging a strike and asking other delivery partners not to work.”

This is not the first time delivery executives are up in arms with the food and restaurant aggregator. On several occasions, they turned to a strike, on the revision of incentives and commissions. In September, delivery executives of Zomato had taken to the streets of Mumbai and Bengaluru protesting pay cuts.

This is a big concern for both Swiggy and Zomato. Incentives and commissions will certainly be slashed in the future similar to what played out with cab-hailing platforms Uber and Ola and their driver partners.

Going forward, it would be interesting to observe how Swiggy and Zomato find a middle way that doesn’t attract wrath from the riders.