‘End this tyranny of 10 minutes’: Raghav Chadha slams quick commerce, demands rights for gig workers | Watch
“In official language, they are ‘gig workers’. I call them the invisible wheels of the Indian economy,” AAP's Raghav Chadha said in Rajya Sabha winter session
AAP MP Raghav Chadha, speaking in the Rajya Sabha on Friday, sought regulations on quick-commerce and other such app-based delivery and service businesses, stressing particularly on benefits for gig workers. Their lives are worse than those of daily wagers and factor workers, the MP said in the ongoing winter session of Parliament.
“Every day, we press a button on our mobile phone app and a notification arrives: ‘Your order is on its way’… But behind this notification, there is often a person whom we do not acknowledge,” he said, listing “delivery boys of Zomato and Swiggy, the drivers of Ola and Uber, the riders of Blinkit and Zepto, and other people like the plumbers and beauticians of Urban Company” as examples.
“In official language, they are called gig workers. But I call them the invisible wheels of the Indian economy,” Chadha said, forming his argument, speaking in a mix of Hindi and English.
“By standing on the shoulders of this silent workforce, all these big e-commerce and instant delivery apps and companies have achieved billion-dollar valuations today. They have become unicorns. But the condition of these gig workers is still worse than that of a daily wage laborer,” he argued.
He specifically pointed towards what he termed “zulm (tyranny) of speed". “Nowadays, sir, a dangerous trend of 10-minute delivery is going on,” he said, addressing Vice President of India and RS chairman CP Radhakrishnan.
“Due to the pressure of delivery time, a delivery boy standing at a red light keeps thinking that if he is late, his rating will drop, his incentive will be cut, the app will log him out, or his ID will be blocked. That is why, for 10-minute delivery, he overspeeds, jumps red lights, and puts his life at risk,” he said.
"The second pain is customer anger… As soon as an order is 5 to 7 minutes late, it is observed that the customer first calls and scolds them. Then, when the order comes for delivery, they threaten them, saying, “I will file a complaint against you. And after that, by giving a one-star rating, they spoil their entire month's performance and budget.” he added.
Chadha also listed “dangerous working conditions”.
“Their situation is even worse than that of an employee working in a factory. Because they neither get permanent employment, nor humane working conditions, nor health and accident insurance,” he said.
Also read | What Swiggy, Zomato and their ilk must do under India labour codes
“I want to say that these people are not robots. They are also someone's father, husband, brother, and son. The House should think about them, and this tyranny (zulm) of 10-minute delivery should be ended,” Chadha concluded.
Gig workers usually lack formal “employee” status, and are categorised instead as “partners” or associates who can choose to work with a company.
