Delivery disruption: Gig workers call nationwide strike against Swiggy, Zomato, Amazon & others

Delivery partners across food, e-commerce and home services to go offline on December 25 and December 31, protesting pay, safety risks and lack of social security

Online food, grocery and e-commerce deliveries are likely to be affected on Christmas Day (December 25) and New Year’s Eve (December 31), as delivery workers across India have announced an all-India strike.

Delivery partners associated with major platforms such as Swiggy, Zomato, Zepto, Blinkit, Urban Company, Amazon and Flipkart will go offline as part of the protest. The strike has been called by app-based workers’ unions, including the Karnataka App-based Workers Union, citing worsening working conditions in the gig and platform economy.

According to the union, platform companies continue to deny workers fair wages, safety, dignity and social security. The workers allege that despite long working hours and high-risk deliveries, especially during peak demand periods, basic labour protections are not being ensured.

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One of the key demands is the immediate withdrawal of “10-minute delivery” service models, which workers say put their lives at risk due to pressure to meet unrealistic deadlines. Other demands include fair and transparent pay per order, better incentive structures, mandatory rest breaks and reasonable working hours.

Workers have also demanded an end to arbitrary blocking of delivery IDs and penalties imposed without due process. They have raised concerns over lack of proper grievance redressal systems, app glitches affecting routing and payments, and inconsistent work allocation due to algorithm-based discrimination.

Additional demands include improved safety measures, stronger technical and app support, job security, health insurance, accident coverage, pension benefits and respectful treatment at the workplace. Workers have also alleged that some are blackmailed or harassed for joining unions or raising their voice against work-related issues.

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In Bengaluru alone, around 2,000 delivery workers are expected to participate in the protest, which is being carried out as an offline demonstration. As a result, users may face disruptions in food delivery, grocery orders and e-commerce services throughout the day.

The workers have urged both the Central and State governments to regulate platform companies, enforce labour laws, implement social security frameworks for gig workers and formally recognise their right to organise and collectively bargain.