Gig workers in quick commerce: rights, pay and insurance

Updated October 2026

Gig workers in quick commerce, such as Blinkit, Zepto and Instamart riders, have been recognised under the Code on Social Security since 21 November 2025. The platform money that will pay for their benefits has not started yet.

Karnataka and Telangana add their own laws, with notice and written reasons before a platform can end your contract. No app publishes an average rider wage. The most useful step today is to register on e-Shram, which every central benefit for gig workers runs through.

Rules are changing fast. Check the Labour Ministry, e-Shram and your state labour department for the current position.

What gig workers get under the Code on Social Security

The Code on Social Security, 2020 came into force on 21 November 2025 with India’s other labour codes. It is the first central law to define a gig worker, a platform worker and an aggregator (the app company). The Social Security (Central) Rules, 2026 followed on 8 May 2026.

Delivery partners are still not employees of the app. The code gives them a separate set of benefits:

You qualify after at least 90 days on one platform, or 120 days across several, in the previous financial year. The days need not be in a row.
Anyone aged 16 or older can register on e-Shram with Aadhaar. Platforms had 45 days from the rules to register and upload their existing workers.
Platforms must put in 1–2% of annual turnover, capped at 5% of what they pay gig workers. The start date has not been notified, so no platform money is reaching the fund yet.
The fund can pay for life and disability cover, accident insurance, health and maternity benefits and old-age protection, through schemes the government will frame.

Separately, the 2025–26 Budget (1 February 2025) promised identity cards, e-Shram registration and PM-JAY health cover for about 1 crore gig workers.

State gig worker laws in Karnataka, Telangana, Rajasthan, Bihar and Jharkhand

Five states have passed their own laws on top of the central code. Karnataka and Telangana give riders the clearest rights, including notice before a contract ends.

State	Law	Status	What it does
India (central)	Code on Social Security, 2020	In force from 21 Nov 2025. Social Security (Central) Rules, 2026 notified on 8 May 2026.	Defines gig worker, platform worker and aggregator. Aggregators must pay 1–2% of annual turnover, capped at 5% of what they pay gig workers, into a social security fund, from a date still to be notified. You qualify with 90 days on one platform, or 120 days across several, in a year.
Rajasthan	Platform Based Gig Workers (Registration and Welfare) Act, 2023	Passed in 2023, the first state law of its kind. Putting it into practice had stalled by April 2026.	Welfare board and fund; registration of workers and aggregators.
Karnataka	Platform-based Gig Workers (Social Security and Welfare) Act, 2025	Ordinance published 27 May 2025. The Act replaced it on 12 Sep 2025 and counts as in force from 30 May 2025; rules notified 19 Nov 2025. The Act allows a welfare fee of 1–5% of each payout; a 1% fee was notified on 13 Feb 2026.	Welfare fund; 14 days’ notice with written reasons before termination; clear pay and deduction details; grievance redressal. Swiggy, Zomato, Zepto and the industry body IAMAI have challenged it. In July 2026 the High Court refused to stay it and asked platforms to deposit the fee. The case is still going on.
Bihar	Gig workers’ welfare law	Enacted in 2025. Putting it into practice had stalled by April 2026.	Registration, welfare board and social security benefits.
Jharkhand	Gig workers’ welfare law	Passed in 2025. In April 2026 it was the one state law running without serious problems.	Registration, social security and grievance redressal, linked to the state labour department’s portal.
Telangana	Platform Based Gig Workers (Registration, Social Security and Welfare) Act, 2026	Passed by the Assembly in March 2026; Governor’s assent 25 April 2026. An implementation order (G.O.Ms.No. 7) followed in June 2026, and the state aimed to enforce the Act from 15 Aug 2026. On 8 Aug 2026 its rules were still not notified and its welfare board was not yet set up; the Labour Minister promised to speed up both.	Welfare board and fund paid for by a welfare fee on transactions, at a rate the state notifies; a unique ID for each worker; 7 days’ notice and written reasons before termination; a grievance officer who must decide within 30 days; quarterly updates on worker numbers and annual returns from platforms.

Platforms argue that state laws overlap with the central code and raise their costs. The Karnataka case matters most, because Bengaluru has more dark stores than any other city.

What riders take home after costs

The pay apps advertise for dark store jobs is a headline figure before fuel and bike costs. Independent studies and unions put what riders net after costs much lower.

Who says it	What it says
Independent study	Riders on one Indian delivery platform earned about ₹170 an hour before costs in 2024. Fuel and upkeep took about 32%, leaving about ₹115 an hour. Riders working both peak and off-peak hours netted about ₹75 an hour. EV riders earned about 20% more.
Analyst estimate	About ₹46 of each Zepto order goes to delivery partner pay.
Independent rating	In 2024, only bigbasket and Urban Company, out of 11 platforms rated, had a policy that all workers earn at least the local hourly minimum wage after costs. Blinkit was not rated.
Unions	Unions say pay has fallen and is hard to understand. Riders say they are often paid the same for a multi-order trip as for a single order. No rupee figures were given.

Riders’ own pay claims sit alongside each app’s figures, as with Blinkit delivery partner pay and Zepto delivery partner pay.

Insurance for quick commerce delivery partners

Blinkit lists medical insurance of up to ₹10 lakh and accident insurance for delivery partners.
Zepto said in May 2025 that its riders get ₹1 lakh of OPD (outpatient) insurance, medicine discounts and free video doctor consultations.
In a 2024 independent rating, bigbasket, Swiggy, Zepto and Zomato gave accident insurance at no extra cost, plus safety gear and training.
The 2025–26 Budget promised PM-JAY health cover for gig workers registered on e-Shram. The Code on Social Security also allows accident and health schemes, funded partly by platforms once contributions begin.

Check what your own app covers in its partner terms. If you are hurt on a delivery, tell the app through partner support the same day. Keep hospital bills, photos and any police complaint, because insurance claims usually go through the app.

What to do if your delivery ID is blocked

Ask for the reason in writing. Raise a ticket in the partner app. Save screenshots of the block message and your recent ratings and orders.
Use your state law if you have one. In Karnataka the platform must give 14 days’ notice and written reasons. In Telangana it must give 7 days’ notice and reasons, and its grievance officer must decide within 30 days.
Elsewhere, follow the app’s partner terms. You can still complain to your state labour department or ask a riders’ union for help.

How many gig workers deliver for quick commerce apps

Blinkit had about 5.21 lakh delivery partners a month on average in April–June 2026, up from 2.43 lakh a year earlier.
Swiggy works with over 6.5 lakh delivery partners for food and Instamart together (July 2026).
About 31 lakh people earned through Zomato and Blinkit in FY26. That counts anyone who earned even once, so it is far higher than the number of riders on a given day.
India had 77 lakh gig and platform workers in 2020–21. NITI Aayog expects 2.35 crore by 2029–30.
Gig-worker sign-ups on the government portal rose from over 5 lakh in December 2025 to about 12 lakh in June 2026.

Why gig workers went on strike in December 2025

On 25 and 31 December 2025, the Indian Federation of App-Based Transport Workers (IFAT) and the Telangana Gig and Platform Workers Union called nationwide strikes. Their demands included:

fair and transparent pay linked to hours and costs;
scrapping 10-minute delivery models;
no blocking of IDs without due process;
better safety gear, accident insurance and rest breaks;
health insurance, pensions and the right to organise.

IFAT says more than 2 lakh workers joined the protests. Eternal says Zomato and Blinkit delivered over 75 lakh orders on 31 December with about 4.5 lakh partners, its busiest day ever. Both sides had reasons to talk up their numbers.

What happened to 10-minute delivery

In January 2026, Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya met quick commerce and food-delivery companies. He asked them to stop promising 10-minute delivery, for rider safety. The minister made a request and issued no written rule. By 14 January:

Blinkit had dropped “10 minutes” from its main tagline;
Zepto switched to “Groceries in minutes”;
Instamart and Flipkart Minutes dropped their 10-minute branding;
BigBasket still used the line “10 min grocery app”.

A week later, apps in Delhi NCR were still showing delivery times under 10 minutes. The change was to advertising, and no rule limits how fast stores may deliver. Other quick commerce rules do apply, from food safety to foreign ownership.

Road safety tips for delivery riders

There is no official count of delivery riders hurt or killed at work. In the 2024 study of one platform, 24% of riders named road accidents as a safety worry. Unions and riders say road deaths are often not recorded as deaths at work.

Much of the 10-minute debate was about whether short promised times push riders to take risks. No law asks you to deliver within a set number of minutes.

Wear a helmet on every trip.
Keep your phone in a mount and do not handle it while riding.
Do not jump signals to save a minute. A late order costs you less than an accident.

Frequently asked questions about gig workers’ rights in quick commerce

Are quick commerce delivery partners employees of the app?

No. The Code on Social Security treats them as gig or platform workers, a separate group from employees. Their benefits come through a social security fund paid for partly by platforms, and through schemes the government frames, rather than through an employment contract.

How do I register as a gig worker for government benefits?

If you are 16 or older, you can register yourself on the e-Shram portal with Aadhaar and get a Universal Account Number. Platforms also have to upload their workers’ details.