Is the gig economy empowering workers or institutionalising a new form of exploitation?
The immediate trigger was Deepinder Goyal’s post on X (formerly Twitter), where he claimed that despite “a small section of miscreants” trying to disrupt operations, Zomato and Blinkit achieved record-breaking deliveries. He even thanked the police administration, raising eyebrows among worker unions.
In contrast, the Telangana Gig Workers’ Association asserted that the strike was effective and accused companies of using police pressure to weaken it. Workers questioned why the CEO chose to thank the police instead of engaging with worker unions or addressing grievances.
This sharp divergence in narratives exposes a fundamental disconnect between corporate leadership and ground-level realities.
Gig workers across platforms have raised consistent demands:
- No access to toilets or elevators during deliveries
- No social security (PF, pension, job stability)
- Low and unpredictable wages
- Long unpaid waiting hours on apps
- No grievance redressal mechanism
- Arbitrary blocking from platforms leading to income loss
Deepinder Goyal, unlike most industry leaders, chose to respond publicly to the controversy and, in the process, inadvertently revealed key aspects of how the gig economy functions.
12/01/2026