Why Swiggy, Zomato Delivery Workers Call for Strike on 31 Dec?
Delivery partners from major platforms held a nationwide strike demanding fair pay, safety, and the end of 10-minute delivery pressure.
Delivery workers across India held a major strike on 25th December 2025, inspired by the recent concerns raised by Raghav Chadha in Parliament about 10-minute delivery services. ISH News had earlier released a video on this topic. The Christmas Day protest saw around 40,000 delivery partners from companies like Zomato, Swiggy, Zepto, Blinkit, Amazon, and Flipkart refusing to work. This caused 50% to 60% of deliveries to stop in major cities such as Pune, Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar, along with several smaller cities.
Unions claimed that during the strike, platforms tried to reduce the impact by using outside delivery services, offering temporary bonuses, and reactivating old accounts. They also said workers faced threats, ID blocking, and unfair fines for joining the protest.
On the evening of 25th December, the unions posted on X that this strike was only a “trailer,” and that the main protest would take place on 31st December 2025. Delivery partners have now announced a second nationwide strike, where workers from all platforms plan to stop working for two hours to highlight poor working conditions in the gig economy.
The movement is led by the Indian Federation of App-Based Transport Workers and the Telangana Gig and Platform Workers Union. Their demands include fair pay calculation, ending 10-minute delivery promises, stopping unfair penalties, better safety equipment, scheduled rest breaks, job security, proper app support, and social security like insurance and pensions.
The unions are asking the government to make strong rules for platform companies so that workers receive fair treatment. Many citizens have supported the riders online, saying safety matters more than fast delivery and urging companies to stop risking workers’ lives.
