Telangana Gig and Platform Workers Union has written a letter to Swiggy’s co-founder Srihasha Majety demanding better payouts for the delivery partners.
However, in its response to BusinessLine , Swiggy denied the union’s claim and said that delivery partners are currently earning the highest they have ever been.
Starting November 29, the union members in Hyderabad are wearing black bands (black badge protest) as they continue to deliver orders.
The letter also noted that close to 10,000 delivery workers (both full-time and part-time) in Hyderabad are expected to go on an indefinite strike and boycott delivery work, if their demands are not met by December 5.
The union has also given a copy of the letter to L Chaturvedi, Joint Commissioner of Labour Ranga Reddy Zone.
“While the payout structure has remained unchanged, our active delivery executives in Hyderabad are now earning 30 per cent higher per hour than what they did a year ago.
“Delivery executives in Hyderabad earn amongst the highest in the country. Unfortunately, a few delivery executives have chosen to oversee these facts and misrepresent their earnings with Swiggy. We are making conscious efforts in helping them understand how their earnings have in fact only grown,” a Swiggy spokesperson said.
Union demands
The union demands include a minimum base pay is ₹35, increase batch order pay to ₹20, re-introduce customer doorstep delivery charge of ₹5, increase distance pay from existing ₹6 per km to ₹12, monthly rating incentive should be re-introduced, super zones should be removed to reduce delivery radius, stop assignment of order to third parties like Shadowfax and Rapido, etc.
Super zones was a concept introduced by Swiggy last year, wherein a couple of nearby regions are clubbed together to increase a delivery partner’s delivery radius and the number of orders. The worker union claimed that the increased radius results in more travel expenses for them.
Commenting on the letter, Shaik Salauddin, Founder State President Telangana, Telangana Gig and Platform Workers Union, said “the company should engage directly with the union, instead of ignoring our demands. Delivery workers from other regions like Gujarat, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai are also ready to join the protest, if our demands are not met.”
Post-pandemic, change in pay structure had instigated strikes against Swiggy in September 2020 and since then delivery workers’ demand for better payout has remained constant.
“Continued increase in the price of petrol, and other essential commodities is impacting the earnings of delivery workers. Inspite of working for 12-15 hours, we are unable to meet basic needs like house rents, children’s school fees which are rising day by day,” the union wrote in the latest letter.
In response, Swiggy’s spokesperson said they had introduced a fuel incentive earlier this year, which is indexed to the changing prices and factors in the increased fuel expenses.