Big relief for delivery agents:Blinkit ‘removes 10-minute delivery claim’; other quick commerce companies follow suit after labour minister intervenes

The e-commerce aggregator, Blinkit has removed the 10-minute timeline from its quick delivery services in the country, reported, news agency IANS. Other quick commerce companies have also followed suit after the Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya intervened on this matter. On this issue, Mandaviya held discussions with officials of Blinkit, Zepto, Swiggy, and Zomato, advising them to do away with strict delivery time limits in the interest of delivery workers’ safety. All the companies assured the government that they would remove delivery-time commitments from their brand advertisements and social media platforms. Govt had issued notification proposing welfare schemes for gig workers: A recent notification of the Ministry of Labour and Employment regarding the welfare of the gig workers was also issued. The government of India has proposed to bring such a rule for the gig or platform workers working with aggregators like Zomato, Swiggy, etc that would allow them to avail all the benefits of the Central Government’s social security schemes like health insurance, accidental insurance, etc by working just 40 days in the entire year. Rest of all days, even if they sit idle or don’t work, they would still get all such benefits throughout the next year!
Background: Gig workers had held a nationwide strike on 31 December 2025. This ad affected deliveries by Swiggy, Zomato, Blinkit, Flipkart, Amazon, Zepto, and other e-commerce companies. The Telangana Gig and Platform Workers Union and the Indian Federation of App-Based Transport Workers had organised the protest. The gig workers had protested against deteriorating working conditions, declining earnings, lack of safety, and absence of social security. ​