NEW DELHI: A study by IIT Delhi researchers have proposed solutions for fair compensation to food delivery agents in India based on Fairwork India’s 2023 report, according to which, none of the major food delivery platforms provide hourly minimum wages to their delivery partners after accounting for fuel and other expenses.
Fairwork Project is a global initiative that seeks to improve the working conditions of digital platform workers, including food delivery agents. The project assesses and ranks platform companies based on their adherence to fair labour practices to promote better standards in the gig economy. The gig economy model has been a driving force in the food delivery industry, making it difficult for delivery workers to secure their rightful earnings.
Additionally, food delivery platforms have faced challenges in increasing order delivery fees beyond a certain point, creating a complex dilemma for all stakeholders. However, the IIT Delhi research team comprising Prof. Abhijnan Chakraborty, Prof. Sayan Ranu, Prof. Amitabha Bagchi and PhD scholar Anjali have developed a unique approach, named ‘Work4Food’, that not only guarantees government-mandated minimum wage compensations for delivery workers but also seeks to minimize platform costs while ensuring customer satisfaction.
Their proposal was also presented at the prestigious International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence. “In our work, we developed an order assignment algorithm (which determines which delivery person gets which order) to ensure that each delivery person earns more than the minimum wage. To achieve this without increasing the cost for the platform or the consumer, we recommend utilizing the delivery workers more efficiently and reducing the habit of over-provisioning.
In other words, since the platforms gather a lot of data, by looking at historical patterns, they can predict the supply-demand dynamics in a particular location at a particular time and accordingly assign delivery workers if there is a need”, said Prof. Abhijnan Chakraborty, Computer Science and Engineering Department, IIT Delhi.
Work4Food’s minimum income guarantee, coupled with the flexibility it offers to platforms in onboarding delivery agents based on demand-supply dynamics, minimizes unnecessary travel, a common practice among the delivery agents to strategically position themselves for the next order. “This can have a long-term effect on reducing air pollution caused by vehicular emissions, at least until the entire delivery fleet transitions to battery-operated vehicles”, Prof. Abhijnan Chakraborty added.
Suggestions