On March 1, a group of 20 Amazon India delivery persons ganged up at Bengaluru’s residential locality Rajarajeshwari Nagar and decided not to pick up the Amazon packages for delivery until their grievances were addressed by the company officials.

“Effective March 1, Amazon reduced delivery rates per package from ₹14 to ₹10. It also reduced the number of packages to be delivered from the earlier 50-60 per day to just 20-25 per day. Add ₹100 per day for petrol for our two-wheelers and you can see that our earnings per month will fall drastically,” Kantharaju R, a delivery person, told BusinessLine .

“Amazon officials assured us that they would increase the number of packages which would increase our earnings but we are still getting just 30-35 packages. We are waiting for April 1 when Amazon will pay us for our deliveries plus incentives for performance, before we decide to revolt again,” he said.

Unlike in Pune, where Amazon delivery persons got together in large numbers and went on strike earlier this month, Bengaluru delivery persons have not got together in large numbers to take their demands to Amazon.

Ramesh S, a high performing delivery person for Amazon India, who delivered 200-250 packages/day for ₹20 per delivery in Bengaluru, has quit because Amazon has reduced payment per delivery by half, drastically brought down the number of packages to be delivered and has imposed stringent conditions that makes earning incentives very difficult.

“I have worked with Amazon for 7 years and would deliver up to 280 packages/day during peak hours and the festival season. Now, they have restricted that number to just 30-40 packages a day. My earnings a month, minus petrol charges, do not make it viable to continue with Amazon. It would make sense only if they gave me a minimum of 100 packages to deliver every day,” he said.

S Vinay, another Amazon India delivery person, says per delivery rate has been reduced to ₹10, and with incentives it works out to ₹13. “I used to deliver 150-200 packages a day 18 months ago, now I am given just 20-25 packages/day, the rest is given to Mahindra Electric Vehicle delivery partners. We earn incentives only if we fulfil three conditions —100 per cent of our deliveries must be successful, which is very difficult if there are returns or if customers are not at home to receive the package. We must convert COD (cash on delivery) customers to cashless customers by requesting them to pay through the Amazon QR code, which customers don’t prefer. They ask us, why does Amazon offer COD, if they want cashless payments. Amazon also coerces us to get KYC details from customers for which they pay us ₹15 a customer.”

The Indian Federation of App based Transport Workers (IFAT), which is building a union of gig workers, said workers from other e-comm platforms have started contacting them after they brought to light the plight of gig workers on Amazon's platform. IFAT said after a strike in Pune, workers are planning similar strikes in other cities.

“Amazon’s delivery charges per packet were about ₹35 last year (pre-lockdown) for the packets delivered by two-wheeler riders and they have come down to ₹10 now — a drop implemented in various stages during the last year. This is particularly harsh in the backdrop of higher fuel prices which eats into transport workers’ income,” Shaik Salauddin, National General Secretary, IFAT, told this newspaper. IFAT has about 35,000 members across the country, primarily from Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Delhi, Lucknow, Kolkata and Kerala.

Salauddin, who is also the founder of the Telangana Gig and Platform Workers Union, said, he has been organising the delivery persons working for various third party delivery service firms roped in by Amazon, and could muster support of 9,000 such workers so far. He, however, said there is no immediate plan to strike work.

When contacted, an Amazon spokesperson said: “There are no disruptions in any of our delivery operations, and our partners continue to work with us to deliver on time to Amazon customers across the country. We place enormous value in having regular conversations with our partners, listening to their feedback and addressing them effectively to continuously improve their experience.”

(With inputs from Mamuni Das in New Delhi and KV Kurmanath in Hyderabad)

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