Swiggy delivery crew face off with Empire staff

A food delivery boy’s tiff with a hotel employee in the face of a ‘reduced incentive’ later proved costly to the boy and the hotel in question.

Brewing animosity between the hotel and the delivery crew over performance ratings triggered a chain of events leading to the trashing of the hotel and filing of police complaints.

Nadeem, a Swiggy delivery boy, had returned to the Empire Hotel on Bannerghatta Road after delivering food to a customer at around 8 pm on Saturday. He was keen to take another delivery.

According to Mico Layout police, while parking his motorcycle at the hotel, Nadeem accidentally hit a parked two-wheeler that belonged to Farooq, a staffer at the hotel. 

This led to a petty quarrel between Nadeem and Farooq. Within minutes, the argument worsened and turned to a physical fight. Nadeem was badly beaten up as other eager hotel staff joined Farooq. Injured Nadeem then called his friends - other Swiggy delivery boys - for support. They rushed to the spot and attacked Farooq in retaliation. At around 12:15 am, the fight escalated and some of the hotel properties were damaged, the police said.

Swiggy delivery crew were unhappy with the Empire Hotel after a complaint by the latter led to a reduced incentives policy, the police said.

“Nadeem and other delivery crew were getting Rs 40 per delivery. However, that changed after the hotel complained about their performance, which led to a reduction of the incentive from Rs 40 to Rs 30, with the provision of an additional Rs 10 depending on customer feedback,” a senior police officer told DH. 

This led to animosity between the Swiggy crew and the hotel staff. The accident on Saturday night was only a trigger to the confrontation, he added.

Later, a complaint and counter-complaint were filed at the Mico Layout police station by both the parties. Further on, police arrested 20 Swiggy delivery boys on charges of vandalism and assault. Seven Empire Hotel staff were also booked for attacking the delivery crew.

Online food aggregator, Swiggy, typically ties up with hotels by connecting them with customers through its app and webpage.

In a statement, Swiggy condemned ‘such acts of aggression’ and said they were extending full support to the investigating authorities in addressing the issue with all the parties involved. “We stand by our delivery partners and are ensuring they receive the right medical attention,” the statement said.

“It is our constant endeavour to provide our delivery partners with industry-best payouts and incentives. Payouts for all our delivery partners are consistent across all restaurants.” Swiggy further added in the statement.

The concerned hotel was unavailable for a comment in this regard.