News Desk – Online food orders, grocery deliveries and last-minute shopping on New Year’s Eve may face delays across many parts of India, as gig and delivery workers have announced a nationwide strike on December 31.
New Year’s Eve is usually one of the busiest days for online platforms, but the protest could disrupt services in major cities and smaller towns alike.
Delivery partners linked to platforms such as Zomato, Swiggy, Blinkit, Zepto, Amazon and Flipkart are expected to take part. Worker unions say the strike could affect businesses that rely heavily on last-mile deliveries during year-end sales and celebrations.
The strike has been called by the Telangana Gig and Platform Workers Union and the Indian Federation of App-Based Transport Workers (IFAT), with support from worker groups in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Delhi-NCR, West Bengal and parts of Tamil Nadu.
Unions say delivery workers are being forced to work longer hours while their earnings continue to fall. They allege unsafe delivery targets, lack of job security, poor working conditions and little access to basic social protection.
In a letter to Union Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, IFAT said it represents around 4 lakh app-based transport and delivery workers across the country.
The federation said workers had already held a flash strike on December 25, which led to 50–60% disruption in services in several cities. The protest aimed to highlight falling incomes, unsafe delivery models, sudden account blocking and the absence of social security.
According to the union, platform companies did not respond positively after the December 25 strike. Instead, workers allegedly faced threats, account deactivations and penalties imposed through app algorithms. The letter also claimed that third-party agencies were used to weaken the protest.
With the December 31 strike, customers may experience delays or cancellations as delivery workers log out of apps or reduce their work.
Major cities like Pune, Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad and Kolkata, along with several tier-2 cities, are expected to be affected.
In its appeal, IFAT urged the government to bring platform companies under labour laws and ban unsafe delivery timelines. It also demanded an end to arbitrary account blocking, fair pay systems, social security benefits such as health insurance and pensions, and protection of workers’ right to organise.
The federation has called for urgent government intervention and requested tripartite talks involving the government, platform companies and worker unions.
The letter was signed by Shaikh Salauddin, Co-founder and National General Secretary of IFAT, and Inayath Ali, Founder of the Karnataka App-Based Workers Union and National Vice-President of the federation. Copies were also sent to senior officials in the Labour Ministry.
