The social entrepreneur slammed Zomat CEO Deepinder Goyal over his comments about gig workers and protested against portraying them as “transgressions”. Anand Sankar said delivery workers are the backbone of platform-based businesses and should not be denigrated.
Sankar’s comments came after delivery partners attached to several food and grocery platforms, including Zomato, went on strike on December 31. The workers demanded higher wages and better working conditions.
After the strike, Goyal said “local law enforcement agencies helped keep a small number of miscreants under control,” allowing Zomato and its fast-business arm Blinkit to complete more than 75 million deliveries on New Year’s Eve.
Sankar, who runs an apple e-tailing business in Uttarakhand, said he decided to speak out despite being warned that his criticism could damage his business prospects.
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He said he was told that venture capital firms were closely watching his public statements and that Goyal himself could be a future investor. He was also warned that he might have to approach Blinkit with a list of products and that being open about it could hurt those chances.
“Being outspoken about issues that matter to me is who I am and that will not change, especially when this issue of gig workers is central to the industry where I run my business,” Sankar said.
He acknowledges the welfare steps but objects to the language
The Tons Valley Shop founder acknowledged that Goyal had taken steps for the welfare of delivery workers, including offering insurance cover.
However, he said he was deeply upset that gig workers were being labeled “scumbags” for demanding their rights.
“Your life was built on their sweat,” Sankar wrote in a now-viral post on X.
Read also | Raghav Chadha calls the government’s welfare measures a “small win” for gig workers
His views were shaped by early experiences
Sankar, who also founded Sayb Apples, said his interest in gig workers grew out of personal experiences during the early days of his business.
In 2020, handling several hundred weekly orders from his home in Dehradun, he often loaded shipments into his own car.
On one occasion, after transporting almost 600 kg of apples from the mountains, he expected a small truck to collect 320 kg of produce. Instead, a single van rider arrived on a motorcycle with an oversized bag.
“Dangerous” delivery plan rejected
The rider told Sankar that he planned to make three or four trips, carrying 60 to 70 kg of apples on his two-wheeler each time.
Sankar immediately refused saying that the plan was unsafe. He said he had an argument with the Delhivery and refused to hand over the consignment until the right vehicle was secured.
“The call came from Delhivery and we had an argument, I refused to pass the orders until the chota hathi comes or they send 10 riders. They sent the chota hathi the next day,” he said.
He added that the company later began consulting with him on vehicle selection for each pickup truck. “There has been a change in my orders, at least,” he said.
Read also | Deepinder Goyal on reports of Zomato laying off 600 employees, “We make no excuses…”
Another incident in Bengaluru further strengthened his views. The delivery man was asked to deliver a 10kg box of apples to an eighth floor flat on Bannerghatta Road but was not allowed to enter the building.
The customer insisted that the agent take the box upstairs while security denied access. The situation escalated, the customer verbally abused the delivery person.
As the fresh produce could not be returned, the agent’s supervisor contacted Sankar for help.
The founder intervenes, returns the order
Sankar spoke directly to the agent in the local language and found him extremely upset after the abuse.
After the building guard confirmed the customer’s behavior, Sankar called the customer, reprimanded him, immediately returned the money and told the agent to keep the apples.
The agent shared the box with his colleagues. Sankar said the gesture had a lasting impact as the worker continued to regularly order apples for his office and still places an annual order for his family, even after leaving the logistics sector.
Small gestures for warehouse employees
Sankar also recalled the Blue Dart experience. After a warehouse slump one evening, the employees, after seeing the invoice, expressed interest in buying the apples themselves.
Instead, Sankar sent another shipment of five boxes of apples for the night shift staff. When he later learned that the day shift workers had missed out, he sent five more boxes for them as well.
He said the practice has since become an annual pre-Diwali tradition, as a way of recognizing storekeepers.
Concern for the safety of the affected partner
In 2025, Sankar said he was scared after seeing differently-abled partner Swiggy riding a two-wheeler in Versova with only one hand.
“I was concerned how the operators at Swiggy allowed this. I raised it here at X,” he said.
He added that after repeatedly reporting the issue, Swiggy’s operations team assured him that the matter would be addressed and that those workers would be moved to safer, alternative roles.
