Bengaluru food delivery workers protest denial of government aid

Food delivery workers on Saturday expressed anguish at being excluded from the list of workers who are getting financial relief announced to help the poor affected by the Covid-19 lockdown.

Hundreds working with companies like Zomato, Swiggy and Dunzo held an online protest under United Food Delivery Partners' Union. The workers urged the state government fulfill their demands, including a financial relief package, vaccination on priority, provision of mask, sanitiser and face shield.

In a statement to the media, Vinay Sarathy V, president of the union, said most of the workers on aggregator platforms were full-time workers with very few working on part-time basis. "This fact has been brought to the notice of the government. We from our union had demanded a package for these workes even during last year's lockdown. But the government rejected it," he stated.

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The delivery workers' earnings are directly tied to the number of orders placed by customers. However, the pandemic and the lockdown have reduced the number of orders, while the rising fuel prices have led to high operation costs and hit their earnings.

Food delivery partners have been working under high-risk conditions. These workers run their families with these earnings. Also, their families are under high risk as the workers inevitably come into social contact while on the job, Sarathy said, demanding the government's help.

The Union, for more than a year, has been demanding the government to introduce some regulation to ensure aggregators pay better wages to an estimated over 1 lakh workers depending on the sector in Bengaluru.