Over 1,000 Blinkit riders join rival firms amid row over new pay structure

More than 1,000 delivery executives employed with Zomato-owned Blinkit have joined rival firms, citing ‘unhappiness’ with the instant delivery service over the lowering of their payout structure, from Rs 25 per delivery to Rs 15, a report by the Economic Times said.

Angered by the company's decision, Blinkit delivery workers staged protests in the Delhi-NCR region last week, leading to the disruption of services in areas such as Delhi, Noida, Greater Noida, Gurugram, Ghaziabad and Faridabad.

Before the strike, Blinkit employed about 3,000 delivery workers in Delhi-NCR. However, after a week of protests, one-third of them have joined competing platforms such as Swiggy, Instamart, Zepto and Big Basket, sources told ET.

According to the report, some employees were forced to leave despite initially hoping that the organisation would reverse its decision. However, Blinkit appeared to have moved forward with the revised payout structure.

The delivery firm has also been hiring new riders to deal with the shortage since last week.

Blinkit operates nearly 200 dark stores in Delhi-NCR. These stores function within a radius of 2-3 km, and goods are picked up from these warehouses for delivery. Almost 100 such stores were forced to close temporarily due to the rider's strike.

These too, resumed operations last week. Meanwhile, Zomato said in an April 20 filing that the disruption only had a ‘minimal revenue impact.’