‘Unaffected by strike calls’: Zomato and Swiggy register record orders on New Year’s Eve; Goyal explains 10-minute delivery model amid uproar – The Times of India

NEW DELHI: Food delivery giants Zomato, Swiggy and Magicpin reported a huge surge in orders on New Year’s Eve and said operations remained largely unaffected despite a nationwide strike call from a section of gig workers demanding better wages and working conditions.Eternal founder Deepinder Goyal shared a post on

“Support from local law enforcement helped control the small number of miscreants, enabling over 4.5 lakh delivery partners on both platforms to deliver over 75 lakh orders (highest ever) to over 63 lakh customers during the day,” he added.Magicpin founder and CEO Anshoo Sharma also said the platform suffered “no impact” from the strike, adding that New Year’s Eve once again showed how central food delivery has become to celebrations in India. He noted that lakhs of orders were pouring in every hour across the metro cities.

Biryani, pizzas and butter chicken dominate the orders

Magicpin said pizza emerged as an early favorite while desserts such as gajar ka halwa and ice cream saw a three-fold increase in orders compared to last year, PTI reported.Dinner orders peaked around 9:30 pm with butter chicken topping the charts in Delhi-NCR, followed by biryani and dal makhni.Data from Swiggy and Magicpin showed that Indians were tucking into biryani, pizzas, butter chicken and traditional desserts. On Swiggy alone, biryani crossed 2.19 lakh orders before 7:30 PM.“Meanwhile, the age-old battle between pizzas and burgers continued. By 8:30 pm, over 2.18 lakh pizzas had been shipped, while burgers clashed with over 2.16 lakh orders, proving that the Indian palate is as diverse as the festivities,” Swiggy said.Eating out also saw strong appeal. Swiggy Dineout bookings were led by Bengaluru and Hyderabad, while Ahmedabad recorded the fastest growth with a jump of 1.6x, followed by Lucknow (1.3x) and Jaipur (1.2x), PT reported.Thanking the delivery partners who worked throughout the day, Goyal said, “delivery partners who showed up despite intimidation, stood their ground and chose fair work and progress”.He warned people against being swayed by “narratives pushed by vested interests”, saying a system would not continue to attract and retain large numbers of workers if it was fundamentally unfair.“The gig economy is one of India’s largest organized job creation engines, and its real impact will grow over time as the children of its delivery partners, supported by stable incomes and education, enter the workforce and help transform our country at scale,” he added.

Goyal explains the 10-minute delivery model

In a separate post, Goyal sought to clarify concerns surrounding fast deliveries, especially the 10-minute promise.“One more thing. Our promise of 10-minute delivery is made possible by the density of stores around your home. It is not made possible by asking delivery partners to drive fast,” he said, adding that delivery partners do not even see a countdown timer on their apps indicating the promised delivery time.He explained that once an order is placed on Blinkit, it is typically picked and packed within 2.5 minutes, after which the rider travels an average distance of less than 2 km in about eight minutes, which translates to an average speed of about 15 km/h.“I understand why everyone is thinking why 10 minutes should put lives at risk because it is indeed difficult to imagine the sheer complexity of the system design that enables rapid deliveries,” Goyal said.“If you’ve ever wanted to know why millions of Indians voluntarily take up platform work and sometimes even choose it over regular jobs, just ASK a partner when you get your next food or grocery order. You will be humbled by how rational and honest they will be with you,” he said.Goyal acknowledged that “no system is perfect, and we are all for making it better than it is today. However, it is far from what it is portrayed on social media by people who do not understand how our system works and why,” he said. “If I were outside the system, I would also believe that gig workers are being exploited, but that is not true,” he added.

‘1 lakh workers took part in strike’

The Gig & Platform Services Workers Union (GIPSWU), which had called the December 31 strike, claimed that over one lakh workers participated in 22 cities, including around 14,000 members from major metro cities. The union reiterated demands such as a minimum wage per kilometer, workplace safety for women, maternity and emergency leave and legal recognition of platform workers under labor law.However, estimates suggest that India has over 12.7 million gig workers, a number that will grow to 23.5 million by 2029-2030, according to government think tank NITI Aayog. Meanwhile, Magicpin, India’s third largest food delivery platform, said lakhs of orders were received every hour across the metros on New Year’s Eve.