‘Suited them and their political agenda’: Entrepreneur Sanjeev Bikhchandani questions motive behind gig workers strike call

New Delhi [India]January 3 (ANI): Sanjeev Bikhchandani, Founder of Naukri.com and Non-Executive Director of Eternal (Zomato), questioned those behind the strike call on factory workers and once again expressed his support to Deepinder Goyal, Founder of Zomato at X, on the welfare of factory workers after the recent strike call. While Bikhchandani stated that discussions regarding delivery partner compensation and welfare remain a priority for the company’s management and board, he also took a swipe at those who called for a strike.

Bikhchandani wrote, “Thank you for sharing these details on Public @deepigoyal. I can testify that discussions on delivery partner welfare and fair compensation take up a significant percentage of time in Board meetings. Management and the board are upset with these. Now the people running this campaign and unsuccessfully trying to organize a strike could have written or come here and asked for, received and discussed this information. But instead they chose to launch a campaign on social media – it suited them and their political agenda better.” In X.

This development comes after Deepinder Goyal shared data on the financial structure of the concert model on Zomato. According to Goyal, the average hourly earnings of delivery partners at Zomato will increase by approximately 10.9 percent annually in 2025, reaching the following level: ₹compared to 102 ₹92 by 2024, according to the data he shared. Excluding tips, the figures reflect steady growth in earnings over a longer horizon for the workforce.

Goyal on X shared the financial structure of the concert model. He noted that if a partner works 10 hours a day, 26 days a month, the gross earnings approximately correspond to: ₹26,500. After accounting for roughly 20 percent of fuel and maintenance costs, net earnings are approximately ₹21,000 per month. These calculations are based on total login hours, including wait time.

Goyal noted the flexible nature of the job, noting that the average delivery partner at Zomato worked 38 days in 2025, working an average of seven hours per workday. Only 2.3 percent of partners worked more than 250 days during the year. “Claiming full-time employee benefits like PF or guaranteed salaries for gig roles is not fit for purpose of the model,” Goyal said, adding that the system offers a “flexible, temporary earning option” rather than a long-term lock-in.

Addressing safety concerns about express trade, Goyal explained that 10-minute delivery promises do not pressure workers to drive unsafely. Delivery partners are not shown customer-facing time promises or countdown timers. Delivery speed depends on the proximity of the store rather than road speed. While the average distance per Blinkit order in 2025 was 2.03 km and the average driving speed was 16 km/h, Zomato saw an average speed of 21 km/h.

The money spent by Zomato and Blinkit, according to Goyal ₹100 crore insurance premium for partners in 2025. This includes accident insurance up to ₹ 100 crore. ₹10 lakh, medical cover ₹1 lakh and wage loss insurance. Additional support includes two periods of rest days per month for women, income tax filing assistance for 95,000 partners and enrollment of 54,000 workers in the National Pension Scheme.

Goyal emphasized that partners have the freedom to choose workspaces and login times, without set shifts or geographies. He described the platform as offering a reliable source of secondary income with zero barrier to entry. “Flexibility is not incidental to the business model, that is the whole point,” he noted, “Now tell me, is that unfair? Especially for an unskilled job that is largely part-time and has zero barrier to entry.”

Earlier on Friday, Bikhchandani weighed in on the debate over gig workers praising Zomato founder Deepinder Goyal’s comments on a one-day gig workers’ strike while delivering an indirect blow to those who claim these workers are being exploited.

In response to Goyal’s post on

The Info Edge founder was openly probing AAP MP Raghav Chadha without naming him.

Previously, Goyal has advocated for the gig economy, arguing that it breaks centuries of invisibility for laborers, where workers, delivery partners, passengers and others are interacting directly with consumers on a large scale for the first time. This makes inequality personal, he said, which is why the gig economy leads to discomfort and heated debate.

Aam Aadmi Party’s Rajya Sabha MP Raghav called for a ban on 10-minute delivery apps, alleging that companies put pressure on gig workers and only enrich companies by piggybacking their evaluations. (MOMENT)