Zomato

On December 25, 2024 and New Year's Eve 2025, over 200,000 delivery workers from Zomato, Swiggy, and Amazon struck across India, organized by IFAT. Workers demanded fair pay, an end to 10-minute delivery targets, and social security. A Hyderabad driver making 5 rupees (<10 cents) per order base rate works 7pm-5am daily. CEO Deepinder Goyal claimed deliveries were 'unaffected' but unions responded workers 'cannot afford to log out.'

In April 2025, Zomato laid off 500-600 employees from its Zomato Associate Accelerator Program without prior notice, giving only one month's severance. The layoffs followed the launch of 'Nugget', an AI platform handling 15 million monthly interactions and resolving 80% of queries without humans. Employees reported being dismissed for minor issues like being late by 28 minutes on average, with AI performance tracking ranking workers into tiers.

Following nationwide strikes by 200,000+ delivery workers over extreme low wages and dangerous conditions, Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal dismissed worker concerns, stating Zomato delivered 'at a record pace' and was 'unaffected by calls for strikes,' crediting 'local law enforcement' for 'keeping small number of miscreants in check.' Goyal argued 'if a system were fundamentally unfair, it would not consistently attract and retain so many people.' Union leader Shaik Salauddin responded: 'CEO of Zomato is trying to save himself, at an organizational level he has come under pressure...even after repeated threats from CEOs, gig workers continued peaceful strikes resulting in delays in 60% of orders.' In January 2026, Union Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya forced Zomato, Blinkit, Swiggy, and Zepto to remove 10-minute delivery pledges - the strikers' primary demand. Zomato also terminates nearly 5,000 gig workers monthly for 'fraud' while 150,000-200,000 leave voluntarily.

More than 200,000 delivery workers across Zomato, Swiggy, Zepto, Amazon, Blinkit, and Flipkart struck on December 25, 2024 and December 31, 2025 (New Year's Eve). Workers demanded: (1) restoration of old payout system, (2) removal of 10-minute delivery model forcing unsafe speeds, (3) stopping ID deactivation without reason, (4) fixing algorithms that reduce incentives, and (5) social security including health insurance. Base pay as low as 5 rupees (10 cents) per order. Workers forced to complete 35-40 orders daily, working 16-hour days for 700 rupees ($7.70) after expenses. One delivery rider became accident victim every three days in Hyderabad; 17,000+ traffic violations recorded in single week as riders forced to run red lights. Strike caused 50-60% order delays on December 25. Union leader Shaik Salauddin: 'Delivery workers are being pushed to the breaking point by unsafe work models, falling incomes, and total absence of social protection.'