New Delhi, Jan 13 — India’s leading quick-commerce and food-delivery platforms have begun rolling back their 10-minute delivery promises after Union Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya intervened, warning that ultra-tight deadlines were putting gig workers at risk.
Blinkit has already changed its branding, dropping the line “10,000 plus products delivered in 10 minutes” and replacing it with “30,000 plus products delivered at your doorstep,” following a meeting between the government and major aggregators including Zepto, Zomato and Swiggy, ANI reported. Other platforms are expected to follow in the coming days.
According to officials familiar with the talks, Mandaviya told the companies that delivery timelines must not “compromise the safety, security and dignity of gig workers,” and urged them to move away from marketing that pressures riders to race against the clock.
The shift comes amid a growing political and policy focus on the working conditions of app-based delivery workers. In Parliament last week, AAP Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha said gig workers were being pushed to breaking point.
“Behind every 10-minute delivery is a worker riding in rain, heat and traffic under extreme pressure,” Chadha said. “They deserve social security, dignity, protection and fair pay.”
The policy backdrop has also changed. The Code on Social Security, 2020, which came into force on November 21, 2025, for the first time formally defines “gig workers” and “platform workers” and provides a framework for their welfare.
Under the law, such workers are eligible for life and disability cover, accident insurance, health and maternity benefits and old-age protection. It also creates a Social Security Fund to finance welfare schemes and a National Social Security Board to oversee support for gig and platform workers.
With the new legal protections in place and political pressure mounting, the government’s message to delivery platforms has been clear: speed cannot come at the cost of worker safety.