Blinkit delivery staff say IDs blocked after strike, restored on apology

Delivery partners said the company asked them to give written assurance against repeating such actions, warning it could take any action if they failed to comply

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In the wake of a two-day strike (April 26, 27) at Blinkit's Ranipur store in Varanasi, the quick commerce (q-com) platform blocked the IDs of nearly 150 delivery partners — reinstating only those who signed a pledge not to protest again. 

 

According to the Gig and Platform Service Workers Union (GIPSWU), almost 120 delivery partners have signed these documents and sent video messages to the company, retracting their support for the protest. 

 

The delivery partners staged a protest to demand the ending of mandatory work hours between 12-4 PM, increasing the minimum wage, assigning proper rest areas, and providing cotton clothes alongside other basic amenities for summers. 

 

Business Standard spoke to affected delivery partners (a mix of those whose IDs are still blocked or recently unblocked). The partners say the company has given a tit-for-tat response to their protest and is capitalising on unemployment or lack of alternative employment opportunities.

 

Nirmal Gorana Agni, the national coordinator of GIPSWU, said the action of the company is punitive. "There are around 25-30 IDs which are still left to be unblocked. The company's requirement to demand workers to work during peak sunny hours (from 12-4 PM) falls under the category of forced labour. Overall, there are no regulations or laws that protect the companies from such unprofessional attitudes from companies." GIPSWU had also written to the labour department of Varanasi and the city's district magistrate's office.

 

Delivery partners said that the company demanded the workers to submit to them in writing that they would not engage in such activities in the future otherwise, it has the right to take any action against them.

 

Akash Rai is a Varanasi-based Blinkit delivery worker whose ID still remains unblocked. "It has been five years since I have been working with Blinkit and at this point, when the workers demanded their basic rights, the company left us alone. They (Blinkit) had asked me to send a maafinama (apology letter) and a video, but I will not do it. The company has significantly changed its rate card which is making our survival difficult." Rai is currently working with another q-com platform Swiggy Instamart. 

 

Rai explained that while in the past the company gave an incentive of over Rs 100 on 10 orders, the amount has been significantly slashed. He added that delivery partners get just Rs 14-15 for a distance of 500-600 metres and Rs 35 for 3-3.5 kilometres. "Out of this, the petrol per day costs Rs 200, eating outside costs Rs 100, and on top of it, there is bike maintenance and household expenses," he said.

 

Another delivery partner, Radha Gupta, uses a cycle to deliver orders. "I have two daughters (aged 15 and 18) and am a single mother. We live in a rented space in Varanasi. My ID is still disabled because I have not sent the video to the company yet. I am scared to give my submission in writing because the company can hold me responsible for anything wrong that may happen in the future, it is scary," she said.

 

Similar to Rai, Gupta has also started working with Swiggy Instamart. However, she said that the incentives at her new workplace are also minimal. "There are not enough orders to be assigned to one specific delivery worker for them to get enough incentives," she added. 

 

Unlike Rai and Gupta, delivery partner Abhishek Kumar's ID has been unblocked after he signed the required document and has restarted working with Blinkit. "I got my ID unblocked by making a video and sending it to the company. Even if the ID is unblocked, the working conditions are the same as before (prior to the strike)," he said, adding that it is not gig work anymore as delivery partners are required to work in mandated time slots assigned by the company.

 

Similar to protesting BluSmart drivers who lost jobs after the company shut operations last month, other gig workers (including those of Blinkit) said that they should have the right to form unions to facilitate collective bargaining with the company.

 

Business Standard wrote to Blinkit but the emails didn't elicit any response till the publication time.