Early Times Report
NEW DELHI, Jan 13: Eternal-owned quick-commerce firm Blinkit has dropped its ’10-minute’ delivery claim from all platforms amid growing concerns over delivery workers’ welfare.
It has revised the tag-line from “10,000+ products delivered in 10 minutes” to “30,000+ products delivered at your doorstep”.
Other quick commerce platforms, such as Swiggy and Zepto, may also follow suit after the intervention by the Union Ministry of Labour, which was concerned about the welfare of the delivery workers trying to meet such tight deadlines.
The move follows discussions the labour ministry held with the quick commerce platforms to ensure greater safety, security and improved working conditions for gig workers.
The promise of 10-minute delivery led to gig workers holding a nationwide strike on New Year’s Eve in 2025, drawing attention to workers’ health, safety and income.
To be sure, while the 10-minute delivery branding was still visible on the Google Play Store and iOS App store for Zepto, Instamart and BigBasket, there was no such branding for Blinkit.
In a recent post on X, Eternal Group CEO Deepinder Goyal had claimed that the 10-minute delivery promise does not pressure riders or lead to unsafe driving, as they are not shown the 10-minute timer on the app.
“Quick commerce’s 10-minute promise DOES NOT put pressure on gig workers, and it DOESN’T lead to unsafe driving. Why? The most common concern is that faster delivery promises translate into pressure on delivery partners to drive unsafely. That isn’t how the system operates.
“Firstly, delivery partners are not shown customer-facing time promises. There is no ’10-minute timer’ or countdown in the delivery app. 10-minute or faster deliveries are primarily due to our stores being closer to customers and not by higher speeds on the road,” Goyal had stated in the post. |
