MADURAI; Food delivery boys, who spend several hours on the road daily, now have to cut down their expenses on essentials. "We don't get an allowance for petrol. So, as fuel prices rise, we're forced to reduce our family expenses since we can't reduce our fuel consumption," says Ramasamy* (29), a food delivery agent in Madurai. He adds that he and his colleagues can't save money anymore.
Another delivery agent, Michael* (34), says he earns Rs 15,000-18,000 a month, of which about Rs 4,500 goes towards fuel for his bike. "This is about Rs 1,500 more than what I used to spend before the petrol price was hiked," he says.
Michael used to work as a driver for a tourist agency until the lockdown was enforced. "I lost my job, and in order to support my family, I started delivering food on a part-time basis. I later took it up full-time," he recounts, adding that it would take a couple of years to revive the tourism industry in South Tamil Nadu.
"We are the ones losing money when we take up deliveries in remote areas, since we spend more on fuel and miss out on getting more orders," he says, explaining that they get an incentive for delivering more orders.
*Name changed upon request