Restaurants brace for quieter New Year's Eve amid gig workers' strike plan

Eateries say delivery disruptions on Christmas hurt sales in key markets and worry a planned New Year's Eve strike by gig workers could deepen losses despite platform assurances

Restaurants are bracing for a quiet New Year’s Eve (NYE) as gig workers plan to go on a strike, after denting their businesses on Christmas.

 

Christmas and NYE are among the highest volume days for eateries, and the strike on Thursday impacted orders for most eateries, especially in the northern parts of the country, led by Gurugram.

 

Unions called the strikes in response to low and falling earnings, arbitrary incentives, long working hours, lack of social security, sudden ID deactivations, and platforms’ refusal to formally recognise unions, said Shaik Salauddin, founder president, Telangana Gig and Platform Workers Union (TGPWU).

 

He is also the national general secretary at Indian Federation of App-based Transport Workers (IFAT).

 

“The last seven days of December are almost like a 13th month and the strike on December 25 impacted us badly. Of our 800 pan-India outlets, operations at almost 100 were impacted, leading to losses in the range of 20-25 per cent,” Sagar Daryani, co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO), Wow! Momo told Business Standard.

 

“We felt the maximum effect in Gurugram, while Patna and Delhi faced a lunch-washout. Prominent southern markets like Chennai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad were also impacted. While some orders were delivered through our own app, where we partner with players like Rapido and Porter, almost one-fourth of sales were washed away,” he added.

 

Another prominent cloud chain, with close to 100 kitchens across the country, said the disruption was quite serious.

 

“We lost almost 12 per cent of our sales, but on a day like Christmas, when volumes are massive, 12 per cent translates into a lot of revenue loss,” the industry executive said, adding that they are in touch with relationship managers from Zomato and Swiggy.

 

“Aggregators need to do a better job at managing such crises, because at the end of it all, it is customers and restaurants who suffer. We rely on the year-end period a lot as sales are high and these things leave a bad taste in the mouth,” the executive further said.

 

“Multiple representations, notices, and meetings were sought with platform companies at city and state levels, but they remained largely unfruitful. Platforms mostly delayed decisions or gave assurances without concrete action,” Salauddin said.

 

These meetings featured discussions on fair and transparent pricing, minimum earnings guarantee, reduction of commissions, protection from unjust deactivations, insurance, and social security.

 

Meanwhile, some quick-commerce players agreed that while there has not been any monumental impact, it has impacted services in some areas. In apprehension of the strike on 31st December, players said they would increase incentives.

 

“Anyways during the last five days of December incentives are high. Just as during the festive season. On an average gig workers earn Rs 2,000-3,000 per day. During these days they will earn Rs 5000-7000 per day,” said an official from a quick commerce platform.

 

However, e-commerce industry executives said the strike had little impact on platform operations, with companies reporting business continuity during a peak demand period.

 

Executives said companies are adhering to global best practices, offering delivery partners insurance coverage, access to medical care, rest facilities, emergency support, safety training, and flexible work arrangements as part of broader efforts to support worker welfare.

 

“Some of these protests are driven by vested interests and political ambitions,” said one e-commerce executive. “Strike calls tend to surface during festive and year-end periods, but we have not seen any disruption to operations.”

 

Another senior executive said nearly all business activity remained unaffected.

 

“These are pressure tactics by certain unions during peak season,” the executive said. “There may be noise on social media, but on the ground it is business as usual. Delivery partners continue to log in daily, and volumes are significantly higher than last year.”

 

Salauddin alleged that delivery platforms continued operations by routing orders through third-party apps when their own workers were unavailable.

 

“Apps like Shadowfax and Rapido should not betray workers in this manner. During the strike, they reportedly increased commissions to incentivise partners to carry out deliveries that were part of our protest,” he said.

 

Meanwhile, a third e-commerce executive noted that the festive and year-end period is typically among the highest-earning phases for delivery partners, adding that many workers factor the income impact into their decision to participate and have largely stayed engaged with the platforms.