Zomato chief executive officer and founder, Deepinder Goyal, defended the gig work model used at the company with a detailed expression on X. He provided a five-point description that encompassed earnings, delivery schedule, safety, flexibility, and support in welfare. We acknowledge this to be a direct reaction to increased controversy in the rights of gig workers in India.
Goyal indicated that without tips, delivery partners had an average revenue of 102 in 2025. This was an increase compared to 92 per hour in 2024 and a 10.9% increment. Spouses with an average shift of approximately ten hours a day over a period of twenty-six days may earn approximately 26,500 without fuel and maintenance expenses.
Monthly take-home earnings were slightly less than 21,000 after cost. All the customer tips were retained by delivery partners as well, and it average was 2.6 per hour in 2025. According to Goyal, these earnings incorporated all the hours that were logged in, such as waiting time, which provided a more accurate outlook as compared to just adding the peak delivery hours.
It is also important to cover work patterns, and Goyal emphasised that gig jobs are new so far as they are aimed at being flexible, not long. The median days (thirty-eight) worked by the delivery partners in the year recorded about seven hours of work per day in 2025. There was a very low proportion of partners who employed over two hundred and fifty days each year.
The couples have the freedom to decide where and when to work and check in and out. With this setup, deliveries become an additional income to many who are in studies, family, or even other employment. This situational decision methodology renders gig work appropriate to individuals who desire to have control over their schedules (Goyal).
Speaking about safety issues related to fast deliveries, Goyal stated that on the apps of their partners, countdown timers and delivery clocks are not visible. He clarified that ten-minute delivery is based on the location of the store, and not the speed of the rider. The order time of Blinkit, on average, was two kilometres with an eight-minute delivery time at sixteen kilometres per hour, and the order time of Zomato was twenty-one kilometres per hour.
Goyal also showed the welfare measures provided by Zomato and Blinkit. Both the companies incurred more than 100 crore in terms of insurance premiums in 2025, as fully paid out by the platforms. Insurance coverage extended to accident, medical, maternity, and income loss insurance, and the claims were served promptly.
Additional support initiatives included:
- Two paid rest days per month for women delivery partners.
- Income tax filing assistance for ninety-five thousand workers.
- Access to a gig-adapted National Pension Scheme for fifty-four thousand partners.
- SOS emergency services for accidents, breakdowns, and theft.
Goyal also reshared a post by Amitabh Kant highlighting India’s gig workforce growth from 7.7 million today to 23.5 million by 2030. This followed criticism from Raghav Chadha, who called gig work exploitative. Goyal warned that politicising the sector could cost jobs and push workers into informal employment.
