‘No timer on delivery partner’: Deepinder Goyal defends 10-min delivery amid gig worker protests

The operations of Eternal

, the parent company of Zomato and Blinkit, on New Year’s Eve were unaffected by calls for a nationwide gig worker strike, reporting record order volumes across its platforms on December 31.

In a series of posts, Eternal CEO Deepinder Goyal said more than 75 lakh orders were delivered across Zomato and Blinkit on New Year’s Eve, the highest ever for the platforms. The orders were fulfilled by over 4.5 lakh delivery partners, serving more than 63 lakh customers during the day, adding that authorities intervened following reports of disruption on the ground.

He said the record deliveries were completed without any additional incentives for delivery partners, noting that higher payouts on New Year’s Eve are standard practice and were in line with previous years.

The comments come amid a call by gig worker unions for a nationwide strike on December 31, demanding better pay, safer working conditions, transparency in incentives, and access to social security benefits. They also called for immediate scrapping of the 10-minute delivery model. The Indian Federation of App-based Transport Workers (IFAT) had claimed that over 2 lakh delivery workers participated in protests across platforms.

In the days leading up to New Year’s Eve, food delivery and quick commerce platforms had offered higher peak-hour incentives, citing elevated seasonal demand, a move that worker unions say does not address longer-term structural concerns.

Addressing concerns around 10-minute delivery promises, Goyal said Blinkit’s delivery timelines are driven by store density and system design rather than speed pressure on delivery partners. He said delivery partners do not have visibility into customer-facing delivery timelines on their apps.

"After you place your order on Blinkit, it is picked and packed within 2.5 minutes. And then the rider drives an average of under 2kms in about 8 minutes. That's an average of 15kmph," he wrote.

In a separate post, Goyal said the company believes most delivery partners did not want to participate in the strike, and alleged that a small group of individuals attempted to disrupt operations by preventing others from working. He said these incidents prompted intervention by local authorities.

"So who were these riders who were creating this trouble? Largely the ones who were terminated by the system for repeated abuse and fraud on the platform. They impersonate, steal food, and also abscond with the cash they collect from the customers, amongst other things. These individuals want to arm twist us to let them back on to the platforms, and exploit the system for their own sake," he further wrote.

Goyal added that while no system is perfect, the company remains open to improving platform processes, and reiterated that it disagrees with portrayals suggesting delivery timelines are achieved by encouraging unsafe practices.

Platforms have maintained that New Year’s Eve operations remained largely unaffected, while gig worker unions say their demands remain unresolved and that protests are aimed at pushing for regulatory and policy changes in the platform economy.