Zomato, Swiggy hit due to LPG crisis amid war, deliveries down

The gig workers' union warned that the war-induced disruption is pushing many into unemployment and debt, cautioning that the present crisis is rapidly turning into a disaster.

As the cooking gas shortage triggered by the war in Iran and the Gulf continues to cripple Indian kitchens and restaurants, delivery workers associated with Swiggy and Zomato said their daily orders have drastically fallen from around 30 to just five, severely affecting their livelihoods in an unprecedented manner.

“Our members are starving,” the Gig and Platform Service Workers Union (GIPSWU), said in a statement, also warning that "the present crisis is turning into disaster.”

"Triggered by the Middle East war disrupting global LPG supplies, commercial cylinder shortages have shuttered restaurants, dhabas, cloud kitchens, catering services, and street vendors, wiping out 50-60 per cent of food delivery orders on platforms like Zomato and Swiggy," the statement added.

Further explaining how the situation has affected the families of gig workers, who are struggling to make ends meet, the union said, “Hundreds have approached us: families skipping meals, kids going hungry. A gig worker from Delhi, a father of two, laments, ‘From 30 deliveries a day to 5-10, platforms now threaten to deactivate my ID.’ Ride-hailing drivers lose restaurant runs, cloud kitchen workers face pink slips."

The workers’ union cautioned that the “war-induced disaster” is pushing many into unemployment and debt, estimating that nearly one crore workers have been affected, with gig and platform workers forming a significant share of those impacted.