After changing the payout structure by the Zomato-owned quick-commerce unit, Blinkit, over 1,000 DELIVERY executives from Blinkit, have joined rival platforms, including Swiggy Instamart, Zepto and BB Now.
How Did This Happen?
Earlier this month, Blinkit had announced that it would offer a minimum payment of Rs 15 ($0.20) per trip based on distance.
With this move, the company has departed from its previous fixed rate of Rs 25 per delivery, as well as peak-hour incentives of Rs 7 per trip.
In this scenario, the delivery workers claimed that this would reduce their earnings.
Basically, the strike led to several dark stores or micro-warehouses, across Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida, Faridabad and Ghaziabad being temporarily closed.
Resumed Operations With Ongoing Protest
At present, the company has resumed operations, but multiple stores in Delhi and Gurgaon remain closed due to a lack of delivery staff.
It appears that around one-third of the delivery executives for Blinkit or close to 1,000 people, had left the platform to join its rivals, according to the sources.
Confirming the news, a delivery executive from East Delhi, Mohammed Zakir, said that he had started working with Zepto.
Not only that but this ongoing protest at Blinkit has led to an increase in delivery orders for rivals BigBasket, Zepto and Swiggy Instamart.
They have reported a 25 per cent-50 percent rise in their daily orders.
Special Incentives
Blinkit circulated a rate card with special incentives valid for 10 days for some stores in Delhi and Noida, which offered delivery executives earnings of between Rs 700 and Rs 1,200 for fulfilling certain order milestones last week.
Despite these efforts from Blinkit, several riders were deregistered by the company the same week.
Besides this the delivery executives in Gurgaon and Delhi stated that they received a message from the Blinkit delivery partner app informing them that some stores were being closed as there had been no work in the last three to four days.
Further, these messages noted that the registration of delivery executives with the platform was terminated.
Prior to this, Zomato had informed the stock exchanges that the recent disruption at Blinkit had a revenue impact of less than 1 per cent on the quick-commerce unit during the ongoing quarter on 20 April.
Adding, “We had to shut down some stores for a few days to ensure the safety of our employees at stores and the delivery partners. Most of these stores have now resumed operations,”.
