Zomato, Swiggy delivery executives take to Twitter to protest 'exploitation'

A number of delivery executives said that their earnings had dropped by as much as 60%

Delivery executives of food aggregators Swiggy and Zomato have taken to social media to voice their protests over the alleged reduction in their earnings.

Recently, two delivery executives, @SwiggyDEHyd and @DeliveryBhoy, who say they work for Swiggy and Zomato, respectively, took to Twitter to amplify their woes. Their tweets were liked and retweeted by many users.

The two delivery executives have complained about a number of issues from lack of compensation for soaring petrol costs to being denied incentives like long-distance return bonus.

A number of delivery executives told Economic Times that their earnings had dropped by as much as 60 per cent, contesting the food aggregators' claims that their salary was higher than what it was before the pandemic.

@SwiggyDEHyd told the publication that he started the account on Twitter to speak on behalf of his peers, many of whom feared losing their job if they "raised their voices."

Another delivery executive who works for Zomato told ET that his pay had been halved since the beginning of the pandemic. He added that raising the issue within the company could lead to "consequences" like being shunted to "external parties such as Rapido or Shadowfax." He is able to earn Rs 15,000 a month only after working six days a week and 12 hours a day.

Both Zomato and Swiggy told the publication that delivery executives' salaries have been raised and that they were being compensated for petrol charges. The food aggregators revise the fuel compensation on a monthly basis, the story added.

The person behind @SwiggyDEHyd, however, said that this was not the case and that despite seeing an increase in orders, their earnings were lower than pre-pandemic levels. The delivery executive alleged that incentives had been cut as well.

On Wednesday, he announced on Twitter that he would no longer be able to share screenshots from the application as Swiggy was trying to track him. He said he could not afford to lose his job.

Zomato and Swiggy have been under fire over the last two years for a number of years. Over the last two years, delivery executives have alleged exploitation by the firms, while eateries tied up with the aggregators have claimed that high commission rates and deep discounts have put their business at a loss.