New Year’s Eve Delivery Boom Continues Despite Gig Workers’ Strike Call

New Delhi: On Wednesday, some gig workers stopped working to demand better pay and working conditions. However, the protests had little effect on services on e-commerce and online food delivery platforms, which had a lot of business on New Year's Eve.

Some gig workers protested, but companies like Zomato and Swiggy gave delivery partners extra incentives, which is something they do every year around the holidays, to make sure services weren't too disrupted on New Year's Eve.

The Telangana Gig and Platform Workers' Union (TGPWU) and the Indian Federation of App-Based Transport Workers (IFAT) say that hundreds of thousands of workers are going to join the nationwide strike to demand better pay and working conditions.

The workers' bodies said that a lot of their members who work for food delivery and quick commerce companies like Zomato, Swiggy, Blinkit, Instamart, and Zepto have not gone to work. However, people who work for the companies said that it is business as usual for them on New Year's Eve.

Zomato offered delivery partners Rs 120-150 per order during peak hours on New Year's Eve, between 6 pm and 12 am, while the strike was going on.

People who know about the development say that the platform has also promised earnings of up to Rs 3,000 over the course of the day, depending on how many orders there are and how many workers are available.

They also said that Zomato had temporarily stopped charging fees for order denials and cancellations. However, they stressed that this was a standard operating procedure during busy holiday and year-end periods.

An Eternal spokesperson told PTI, "This is part of our standard annual operating protocol during festive periods, which usually have more opportunities to make money because of higher demand."

Eternal is the owner of the Zomato and Blinkit brands.

People who know about the situation say that Swiggy has also raised incentives around the end of the year. For example, delivery workers can make up to Rs 10,000 on December 31 and January 1.

"We want to give our delivery partners more power at Swiggy." The company said, "As part of our standard process, enhanced incentives are offered on special occasions such as festivals, allowing delivery partners to benefit from increased earning opportunities during peak demand periods across the year."

They said that on New Year's Eve, the platform is offering peak-hour earnings of up to Rs 2,000 for the six-hour period between 6 pm and 12 am in order to make sure there are enough riders available during one of the busiest ordering windows of the year. They also said that higher payouts were a common practice during these times.

TGPWU and IFAT said in a joint statement, "As of last night, more than 1.7 lakh delivery and app-based workers across India have confirmed participation, and the numbers are expected to rise even more by evening." On the other hand, people who know said that after the huge strike on December 25, when thousands of delivery workers logged off platforms across Telangana and other areas, gig workers have called for a bigger nationwide strike on December 31, 2025, according to a joint statement from TGPWU and IFAT.

"The action on December 25 was a clear warning to platform companies about lower profits, unsafe delivery pressure, and losing respect at work.

"Companies, on the other hand, stayed quiet. They didn't roll back the lower pay, talk to workers, or give any clear promises about safety or working hours. "It added that this continued lack of concern has made today's strike necessary."

The Gig and Platform Service Workers Union also said that there would be a nationwide strike on December 31, 2025. The goal of the strike is to raise issues about the rights, welfare, and dignity of gig and platform workers in India as a whole.

It said, "All gig workers, platform workers, digital platform workers, app-based workers, and online freelancers are strongly urged to join the national strike by shutting down all work-related apps and not providing services on December 31, 2025. This will make the strike united and effective." Amarjeet Kaur, the general secretary of AITUC, said that gig workers should be treated like industrial workers.

She said that the platforms they work for usually call them partners, and that three out of four labor codes don't say anything about gig workers.