Deepinder Goyal on 10-minute delivery promise amid gig workers’ strike: ‘No system is perfect, and we are…’
Eternal, the parent company of online food delivery platform Zomato, admitted that no system is perfect and there is always room for improvement, its founder Deepinder Goyal on Thursday, January 1, 2026, reacting to factory workers’ promise of 10-minute delivery during the New Year’s Eve strike.
Goyal highlighted how the real situation of temporary workers in the industry is different from what is portrayed on social media by people who do not understand the system.
In his post about
What’s behind the 10-minute delivery?
Deepinder Goyal explained how after every order placed on Blinkit, the products are picked and packaged in about 2.5 minutes before being picked up by delivery partners.
Once the order is received, the delivery partner travels less than two kilometers in approximately 8 minutes at an average speed of 15 km/h to deliver the order to the customers.
“I understand why everyone thinks 10 minutes is worth risking lives, because it’s really hard to imagine the sheer complexity of system design that allows for rapid deliveries,” Goyal said in his post.
Deepinder Goyal also explained that the 10-minute delivery promise is possible not by asking delivery partners to drive fast, but by the density of stores around your homes.
“Delivery partners don’t even have a timer in their apps to show the original time promised to the customer,” he said.
Do people prefer this to regular jobs?
Deepinder Goyal also said that he understands that people might think 10 minutes puts delivery managers’ lives at risk, but this has more to do with the ‘sheer complexity of the system design that enables rapid deliveries’.
The founder also emphasized that if people want to know why millions of Indians prefer to do platform work and sometimes even prefer it over regular jobs, they should ask any driver who delivers their next food or grocery order.
Deepinder Goyal said in his post on “You will be humbled to see how rational and honest they will be with you,” he said.
Gig workers’ strike — Details
The Gig and Platform Service Workers Union (GIPSWU) said that more than 1 lakh workers participated in the strike across 22 cities, including around 14,000 members from major centers like Delhi and Mumbai, the news agency reported. PTI.
The nationwide strike was announced on December 31, 2025, to demand rights regarding the welfare and dignity of gig and platform workers in India.
GIPSWU called on all gig workers, platform workers, digital platform workers, app-based workers and online freelancers to join the national strike by shutting down all work-related apps for New Year’s Eve.
According to the union’s announcement, “All gig workers, platform workers, digital platform workers, app-based workers and online freelancers are earnestly requested to join the national strike by closing all work-related applications and refraining from providing services on December 31, 2025, thus making the strike unified and effective.”
