The era of mandatory 10-minute delivery promises by quick-commerce platforms is drawing to a close after intervention by the Union Labour Ministry, amid rising concerns over the safety and working conditions
of gig workers. According to reports, Union Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has persuaded major delivery aggregators to remove the rigid 10-minute delivery deadline following a series of sustained discussions.
A meeting was held with leading platforms, including Blinkit, Zepto, Zomato and Swiggy, to address concerns related to aggressive delivery timelines.
Blinkit, owned by Eternal, has already acted on the directive and removed the ’10-minute’ delivery claim from its branding. The company has revised its principal tagline from ‘10,000+ products delivered in 10 minutes’ to ‘30,000+ products delivered at your doorstep’. Other aggregators are expected to follow suit in the coming days.
The decision comes against the backdrop of intense public debate around the pressures faced by gig workers. During the recent Parliament session, Aam Aadmi Party Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha spoke about the “pain and misery” of gig workers, who often work under tremendous pressure and in harsh weather conditions. He had demanded regulations for quick-commerce and app-based delivery businesses, stressing the need for dignity, protection and fair pay.
The Gig Workers Association also welcomed the move, saying it acknowledges that extreme delivery timelines put unsafe pressure on workers. In a statement, the association said the ten-minute delivery model forced workers to rush, take risks on the road and work long hours due to constant pressure created by incentives, ratings and order allocation on apps. Highlighting pay concerns, it noted, “However, workers are often paid the same amount for a multi-order delivery as for a single order. In one such case, a worker was paid only Rs 19.30 for delivering two orders together. This increases risk and workload without any additional compensation.” The association called for a permanent institutional mechanism for collective dialogue between workers, platforms and the government to address concerns in advance and ensure safety and dignity.
The issue had intensified after gig workers held a nationwide strike on New Year’s Eve in 2025, flagging health, safety and income concerns linked to ultra-fast delivery promises.
On the policy front, the government has already taken steps to formally recognise and protect gig and platform workers. For the first time, their definition and related provisions have been included in the Code on Social Security, 2020, which came into force on November 21, 2025. The Code provides for social security measures such as life and disability cover, accident insurance, health and maternity benefits and old-age protection, along with the creation of a Social Security Fund and a National Social Security Board. In addition, the Ministry of Labour and Employment had launched the e-Shram portal in August 2021 to build a comprehensive national database of unorganised workers, including platform and migrant workers.
With Blinkit taking the first step and others expected to follow, the rollback of the 10-minute delivery promise marks a significant shift in India’s quick-commerce model, placing worker safety and dignity ahead of ultra-fast delivery branding.
In a recent post on X, Eternal Group CEO Deepinder Goyal had claimed that the 10-minute delivery promise does not pressure riders or lead to unsafe driving, as they are not shown the 10-minute timer on the app.
“Quick commerce’s 10-minute promise DOES NOT put pressure on gig workers, and it DOESN’T lead to unsafe driving. Why? The most common concern is that faster delivery promises translate into pressure on delivery partners to drive unsafely. That isn’t how the system operates.
“Firstly, delivery partners are not shown customer-facing time promises. There is no ’10-minute timer’ or countdown in the delivery app. 10-minute or faster deliveries are primarily due to our stores being closer to customers and not by higher speeds on the road,” Goyal had stated in the post.
Eternal owns quick commerce firm Blinkit.
