Delivery workers across India’s quick-commerce and food delivery platforms are reporting growing financial pressure as rising fuel costs and changes in incentive structures reduce overall take-home earnings, even as demand for gig workers remains steady. Workers associated with platforms such as Swiggy, Zomato, Blinkit and Zepto say their payouts are increasingly failing to match operating expenses, particularly fuel costs, with many reporting daily travel distances of nearly 100 kilometres.

The pressure has intensified as platforms move away from the aggressive incentive-heavy payout models seen over the past year, instead focusing on profitability, operational efficiency and preparation for potential public listings. Industry experts say this shift has reduced the frequency of blanket bonuses, leading to more variable earnings for delivery partners depending on time slots, performance metrics and demand cycles.

According to staffing industry executives, companies are also recalibrating delivery operations during peak heat hours, particularly between noon and 5 pm, by limiting rider exposure and optimising supply in specific zones. Algorithms are increasingly being used to allocate orders more selectively, prioritising available riders and reducing bundled deliveries in an effort to manage workload and improve efficiency.

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Senior vice president at TeamLease Services, Balasubramanian A, said the gig workforce model is undergoing a consolidation phase. He noted that earlier incentive-heavy strategies have been replaced by a sharper focus on profitability and utilisation, with companies now avoiding indiscriminate spending to attract or retain riders.

Industry insiders also said that while base rate cards remain largely unchanged, actual payouts fluctuate significantly based on incentives, milestone achievements and time-based bonuses. Companies are reportedly shifting incentive structures toward late evening and night deliveries, while reducing broad daytime bonuses that previously boosted rider earnings during peak hours.

Despite continued growth in quick-commerce demand, experts say workforce expansion is no longer directly proportional to order volume increases. While supply-demand mismatches persist in certain localised areas within cities, labour shortages are currently more severe in sectors such as construction and infrastructure than in app-based gig work, indicating a broader shift in India’s informal employment landscape.

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