KOCHI: A section of delivery executives of Swiggy, the food delivery app, launched a strike in front of Lulu Mall at Edappally here on Wednesday demanding reinstatement of 100 sacked employees, incentives and other benefits.“At a time when everyone is struggling to survive due to the effect of Covid-19 on the economy, the management inhumanely sacked over 100 delivery boys in Kochi alone. The decision should be revoked immediately,” said Shyam V, a delivery executive.
He said the firm should also reinstate the old incentive structure and kilometre charge given to every delivery person. “Until the management meets our genuine demands, we will continue the strike,” he said.
The delivery executives said they used to get `25 for delivering food items in every order. They said the basic fare was also reduced to `15 and that the management had limited the benefits for delivering beyond 8km from `15 to `10.
The protesters alleged the firm, which recently started grocery delivery services, drastically cut their daily incentives for the past few months. “Earlier, we only had to deliver cooked food. Then, delivery of groceries was started. The groceries weigh more than cooked item. The firm is also charging extra for deliveries during the monsoon. However, none of it is reaching the delivery executives toiling on the field,” Shyam said.
“Given the unprecedented circumstances we find ourselves in due to Covid-19, we are forced to take actions that secure the future of the organisation and support our customers, restaurants and delivery partners,” said a spokesperson of the company.“Since the beginning of the lockdown, Swiggy made huge investments to ensure the safety of our delivery partners. They include daily guaranteed earnings, Covid insurance cover, medical cover for their family and distribution of free masks,” the spokesperson said.