Zomato co-founder Deepinder Goyal has mounted a strong defence of the gig work model and shared a five-point rebuttal in the face of rising criticism and concern for food delivery workers following the strikes on December 25 and 31.
Addressing one of the most frequently cited criticisms – low pay, Goyal said delivery partners on Zomato saw a rise in hourly earnings in 2025. According to him, the average earnings per hour, excluding tips, stood at Rs 102 in 2025, up from Rs 92 in 2024. “That’s a ~10.9 percent year-on-year increase.”
He added that while most partners work only a few hours a day for a limited number of days each month, a full-time equivalent calculation shows that earnings can be higher.
“If someone were to work for 10 hours/day, 26 days/month, this translates to ~Rs 26,500/month in gross earnings,” Goyal wrote. After fuel and maintenance costs of about 20 percent, monthly net earnings would be around Rs 21,000, he said.
Delivery Partners “Not Overworked”
Goyal’s second point was that gig work is designed as supplementary income instead of a full-time job. He said data from 2025 shows the average delivery partner worked just 38 days in the year, logging about seven hours per working day.
“Only 2.3 percent of partners worked more than 250 days in the year,” he wrote, adding, “Demanding full-time employee benefits like PF, or guaranteed salaries for gig roles doesn’t align with what the model is built for.”
He said that delivery partners are not assigned shifts or fixed locations, and they decide when to log in, when to log out and where to operate within a city.
Support “Beyond Insurance”
Beyond insurance, Goyal highlighted support initiatives, including two paid rest days per month for women delivery partners, income tax filing assistance and access to a gig-specific version of the National Pension Scheme.
He said over 95,000 delivery partners have used tax filing support, while 54,000 have enrolled in the pension scheme to build long-term retirement savings. An SOS service is also available for emergencies such as accidents, vehicle breakdowns or theft.
Goyal asked, “Now tell me, is this unfair?”
