‘No timers, no overwork’: Zomato CEO breaks silence after gig workers’ protest

In a detailed post on X, Goyal said the earnings of Zomato delivery partners have steadily increased and argued that the gig model offers flexibility rather than enforced work hours.

According to Goyal, the average earnings per hour (EPH), excluding tips, for a Zomato delivery partner stood at ₹102 in 2025, up from ₹92 in 2024 — a year-on-year increase of nearly 10.9 percent.

“Over a longer horizon also, EPH has shown steady growth,” Goyal wrote.

He explained that most delivery partners work only a few hours on select days each month. However, if a partner were to work 10 hours a day for 26 days a month, the gross monthly earnings would be around ₹26,500. After accounting for fuel and vehicle maintenance costs of roughly 20 percent, net earnings would be approximately ₹21,000 per month.

Addressing concerns about work culture, Goyal said delivery partners are not overworked and have full control over when they log in or log out of the shift. He added that partners are neither assigned fixed shifts nor restricted to specific geographies.

“In 2025, the average delivery partner on Zomato worked 38 days in the year and about seven hours per working day, reflecting true gig-style participation rather than fixed schedules,” he said.

Goyal noted that only 2.3 percent of delivery partners worked more than 250 days in the year and argued that demands for full-time employee benefits such as provident fund or guaranteed salaries do not align with the gig-based model.

Responding to criticism over Zomato-owned Blinkit’s 10-minute delivery promise, Goyal denied claims that delivery partners are pressured to rush or meet countdown timers.

“Delivery partners are not shown customer-facing time promises. There is no 10-minute timer or countdown in the delivery app,” he said, adding that faster deliveries are driven by store proximity, not higher driving speeds.

He said that in 2025, the average distance travelled per order on Blinkit was 2.03 km, with an average driving time of around eight minutes, translating to an average speed of about 16 kmph. On Zomato, average delivery speeds were around 21 kmph due to longer delivery distances.

“Our 10-minute delivery promise is enabled by the density of stores around your homes, not by asking delivery partners to drive fast,” Goyal said, reiterating that riders are not informed of the promised delivery time shown to customers.