After spending a big a part of 2024 engaged in a verbal spat with Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal over his firm’s failure to handle buyer complaints and supply of defective merchandise, comic Kunal Kamra began 2025 by taking goal on the fast commerce sector.
Kunal Kamra requested Blinkit CEO Albinder Dhindsa to disclose how a lot his firm’s supply companions earn.
Fast commerce platforms have seen an enormous growth in India over the previous few months. Main gamers like Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart and Zepto are actually working in main Indian cities, delivering groceries and different family items to prospects’ doorsteps in a matter of minutes.
Whereas prospects rave in regards to the comfort of fast deliveries, Kunal Kamra identified the extra problematic facet of such platforms, noting how they exploit gig staff with unfair wages and lengthy working hours.
Kunal Kamra takes on fast commerce
Kamra’s assault started on New 12 months’s Eve, whereas Blinkit CEO Albinder Dhindsa was live-tweeting in regards to the monumental variety of orders coming their manner. New 12 months’s Eve is without doubt one of the busiest occasions for platforms like Blinkit and Swiggy Instamart and folks throughout India refill on social gathering necessities like tender drinks, chips, ice cubes and so on.
On New 12 months’s Eve 2024, Dhindsa shared an X publish saying 1.2 lakh packs of condoms and 45,000 bottles of mineral water have been out for supply via Blinkit. This was among the many many order insights he shared through the evening.
Kamra, nonetheless, was extra enthusiastic about discovering out how a lot Blinkit “delivery partners” earned via these deliveries.
“Can you also enlighten us with data on the average wages you paid your ‘Delivery Partners’ in 2024…” the comic requested Dhindsa.
He possible put “delivery partners” in quotes as a result of supply apps like Blinkit, Zomato, Swiggy and so on have persistently refused to establish their supply staff as firm staff. As an alternative, they’re designated as “partners” who can select to work for a number of corporations. Critics argue that by refusing to recognise gig staff as staff, multi-million greenback companies keep away from paying them a good wage, medical insurance coverage and different perks that staff can count on.
The darkish facet of fast commerce
In a follow-up publish, Kunal Kamra elaborated on the darkish facet of fast commerce, saying that platform homeowners exploit gig staff.
“While we enjoy the convenience of quick commerce I’d like my first tweet of 2025 to be about the dark side,” he wrote on X.
“Platform owners exploit gig workers & they aren’t job creators. They are landlords without owning any land,” he mentioned additional.
“They don’t have a bone of creativity or innovation all they do is exploit people by offering them freedom that they can’t afford while giving them wages that can’t meet their aspirations.”
Kamra likened CEOs of fast commerce corporations to “thugs”, noting how they’re allowed to use gig staff as no rules or legal guidelines exist to cease them.
“They are thugs that are using data as oil without paying for the oil fields. Someday there will be regulation that humbles them…” wrote Kamra.
His publish has collected over 1.9 lakh views in a matter of hours, additionally discovering a number of assist from different X customers.
“Blinkit, Zepto, Zomato, Swiggy. All of them. Zero creativity- only exploitation. The delivery workers are stretched to a great extent for compensation that is not justified at all. 10 mins delivery isn’t a landmark thing tbh. It’s sheer exploitation of humanity to satisfy the ego & whims of the buyer,” X person Ganeshan wrote.
“Studies show that over 50% of gig workers report earning below minimum wage after accounting for expenses, while platforms continue to rake in billions in valuation,” CA Akhil Agarwal added.