New Year’s Eve Without Delivery: Zomato & Swiggy Riders Strike Over Pay and Safety

Updated: December 26, 2025 17:08

Image Source: WOWNEWS24X7

Delivery partners of Zomato, Swiggy, Blinkit, Amazon, Flipkart, and Zepto will strike nationwide on December 31, 2025, demanding fair pay, safety, and social security. Organized by IFAT and Telangana unions, the protest coincides with peak New Year’s Eve demand, raising concerns over disruptions and highlighting vulnerabilities in India’s gig economy.

India’s booming gig economy faces a major disruption as delivery partners across leading platforms—Zomato, Swiggy, Blinkit, Amazon, Flipkart, and Zepto—prepare for a nationwide strike on December 31, 2025. Organized by the Indian Federation of App-Based Transport Workers (IFAT) and the Telangana Gig and Platform Workers Union, the strike follows a similar protest staged on Christmas Day.

Reasons Behind the Strike

Workers cite falling per-order payouts, forcing them to work longer hours for diminishing returns.
Delivery partners highlight unsafe delivery targets, particularly under “10-minute delivery” models, which they argue put lives at risk.
Concerns include arbitrary account deactivations, lack of job security, and absence of social protection benefits such as health insurance or pensions.

Timing & Impact

The strike is strategically timed on New Year’s Eve, one of the busiest days for food delivery and e-commerce orders.
Platforms anticipate significant disruptions in metro cities and tier-2 towns, where demand typically spikes during festive celebrations.
Analysts warn that the strike could dent revenues and customer trust, especially as companies rely heavily on gig workers during peak seasons.

Market Reaction

Shares of Swiggy and Eternal (Zomato’s parent company) slipped by nearly 2% on December 26, reflecting investor concerns over operational disruptions.
Industry experts note that repeated strikes highlight the fragility of India’s gig economy, where millions of workers remain outside formal labor protections.

Broader Context

The protests underscore a growing call for regulation of gig work, with unions demanding fair pay structures, safety guarantees, and social security benefits.
Policymakers are under pressure to address these concerns, as India’s gig workforce is projected to reach 23.5 million by 2030.
For consumers, the strike serves as a reminder of the human cost behind convenience-driven delivery models.

Sources: Business Standard, Telegraph India, BusinessWorld, India Today, Moneycontrol

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