Eternal founder Deepinder Goyal claimed that Zomato and Blinkit saw their highest ever one-day order volumes on New Year’s Eve, despite a nationwide strike by gig workers demanding better pay, safer working conditions and social security benefits. Since then, he has been extremely active on social media, defending the current ecosystem of gig work and addressing the doubts of netizens.
In a sea of opinions, comedian Kunal Kamra also weighed in on Goyal and asked him to share the hourly wages of a concert worker to “end the debate” once and for all.
“How much have they been paid per hour in the last year. It’s just another number, you have it, give it and end the debate…” asked the comedian.
“If you tell me they got at least 50 rupees every hour they were on the app. I will never tweet about gig workers again…” he added.
Read also | Attrition rate insurance: Deepinder Goyal answers questions about gig workers
Deepinder Goyal did not respond to Kamra at the time this story was published; however, the comedian’s post left social media users divided and debating the mathematics of the gig economy.
The user claimed that the approximate job for a gig worker is ₹28 per order, which he says companies are trying to cut down to ₹14.
“It’s approx ₹28 per order and sir wants to reduce it ₹14 because ₹14 is the minimum he charges the customer. End of debate, he will exploit the riders until they get another job option, then without any strike he will increase the pay,” said the user.
Kamra is the minimum ₹50 per hour of talk, user said “50*8 hours*26 days = 10,400 ₹per month. Seems like a very bare minimum wage to survive in BLR. It should be at least 15,000 imo.”
“Anyway @deepigoyal can you confirm this number. I’m asking for the median, not the mean. That’s a fair question,” the user asked. “If platforms really believe in this model, publish realized hourly earnings, including idle time. One number. One year. Debate ends.”
A netizen used the example of a chef to put things into perspective from a gig worker’s perspective, saying, “Imagine you require a chef to be in the kitchen for 12 hours, but you only pay him for the minutes he spends cooking. The stove is off? The pay is zero. They are trapped, unpaid, waiting for a job that may never come.”
“We wouldn’t accept it in a restaurant, but we accept it in the app. The use is a rainbow – it’s hidden behind colorful interfaces,” the user added.
Read also | What Zomat CEO Deepinder Goyal has to say about concert workers’ strike
However, several users took a neutral stance on the issue, believing that despite some systemic issues, gig work has helped several families.
“The gig economy is supporting families right now. Fix the loopholes, add protections, but pretending it’s all exploitation isn’t helping anyone,” said one netizen.
Another added: “The best thing the free market has done in the gig economy is eradicate grassroots urban unemployment. That alone has reduced petty thieves and stealth activities. The gig economy as it is gives incentives to work more and earn more.”
Deepinder Goyal’s team defends concert work
Several netizens in the comments section defended the gig economy and Deepinder Goyal, saying that targeting the sector does not help “because it employs a lot of people, around 1 million people”.
“…But no one trapped them for this job,” the user said.
Another user said: “The guy who delivers your food may be doing it to save for a bike, pay off a loan or support his family while he looks for a permanent job.”
“He chose it because it pays better than the alternative. If he had a.” ₹He has 40 thousand work waiting for him, he will be there. He’s here because it’s his best option right now. Everyone’s doing this voluntarily, so let’s not pretend it’s not helping anyone,” another user pointed out.
Read also | Deepinder Goyal defends delivery partners over alleged traffic violations
Talking in numbers, the netizen said: “If you actually do the math and divide the total number of orders among 450,000 riders with an average compensation of 30 rupees per ride (very conservative) and consider that they were on the job for 10 hours, the math actually comes out to 50 rupees per hour. But you’d never know it.”
“Kunal, Deepinder’s already shared the big picture; the gig economy fuels livelihoods for millions voluntarily. But since you want numbers, Zomat’s delivery partners have averaged ₹28,000 per month in 2024 with around 7 hours of daily login time. Quick math, that’s about it ₹130-150/hour, significantly above yours ₹50 benchmark. A deal is a deal, time to hang the tweets on the concert workers?’ another user said.
