Zomato’s grocery unit, Blinkit, has become temporarily unavailable after netizens shared their grievances on social media. Since April 14, around 50 stores of Zomato’s Blinkit are shut as bike riders have stopped working, demanding better wages. Blinkit informed its customers about the failed services on Twitter and apologized for the inconvenience.
Changes in Pay Structure
Zomato food-tech startup has introduced some changes in the pay structure. As per the revised pay structure of Blinkit employees, its delivery executives would receive a minimum of ₹15 per delivery instead of ₹25 per delivery within 1 km. And if their travel distance exceeds 1 km, they get an additional per km earning which ranges from ₹10 to ₹14.
Protest of Delivery Riders
Videos on social media showed hundreds of Blinkit bike riders protesting and raising slogans against the introduction of a payment structure they say will reduce their per-order earnings. At one Blinkit store in the Noida region near New Delhi, a security staff officer told Reuters that no delivery riders had picked up orders since April 11, and the store was shut.
BJP leader Kapil Mishra hit out at the Blinkit management team in connection with the issue. “Some Blinkit employees met me today. The injustice Blinkit is doing to its employees is illegal. The Blinkit management is playing with the lives of lakhs of families. It must implement the old payment structure immediately. Reduction from ₹25 per delivery to ₹10-15 is cheating with the employees,” Mishra tweeted in Hindi.
Impact on Blinkit’s Operations
Blinkit has around 400 stores in India, of which 50 were shut, mostly in and around New Delhi, since April 14. Blinkit competes with other big delivery firms, including top retailer Reliance-backed Dunzo, Tata’s BigBasket, and SoftBank-backed Swiggy in India’s fast-growing grocery market. Zomato’s other food delivery services continued normally.
Background Information
Zomato last year bought Blinkit for $550 million. Earlier Blinkit was called Grofers. According to Medianama, a Blinkit delivery executive said that when he worked at Blinkit (when its name was Grofers), he used to earn ₹50 per order. However, when the company transitioned its name to Blinkit, its earnings were reduced to (on average) ₹25 per order. Now, under Zomato’s leadership, the earnings have been reduced to ₹15 per order.
Conclusion
Blinkit e-grocery‘s temporary shutdown due to the protest of its delivery riders highlights the ongoing issue of fair wages and working conditions for gig workers in India. As the country’s gig economy continues to grow, companies must find a way to balance profitability and fair treatment of their workers. The incident also shows the power of social media in bringing attention to labor issues and forcing companies to take action to address them.
