The hidden costs of 10-minute deliveries

Just astir everything comes to your doorway contiguous — from nutrient and groceries to apparel and appliances. For thousands of workers who bring them over, it is ever a contention against time. Quick commerce companies committedness customers deliveries successful astir 10 minutes, placing an unrealistic anticipation connected the transportation unit who person to navigate Bengaluru’s notorious postulation congestion. As a result, transportation workers overspeeding, zooming connected footpaths to bypass jams, weaving their mode done congested lanes and jumping signals is simply a communal show successful the city.

As Bengaluru City Police Commissioner Seemant Kumar Singh puts it, the ample beingness of transportation unit connected pedestrian paths has adjacent created the cognition that footpaths are not retired of bounds for motorists.

The important fig of transportation unit connected the roadworthy and the quality of the gig system has added to making the city's roads much unsafe than they already were. There are besides respective cases of transportation unit racing against clip becoming mishap victims themselves. Bengaluru has recorded astatine slightest 27 accidents implicit the past 3 years wherever transportation persons person been victims.

Bengaluru Traffic Police information accessed by The Hindu shows that violations by transportation partners person accrued dramatically. In 2023, the Bengaluru Traffic Police booked 30,968 cases against transportation personnel. This roseate sharply to 52,153 successful 2024, and climbed again to 63,718 successful conscionable the archetypal 9 months of 2025. These numbers constituent not simply to idiosyncratic lapses, but to a worsening systemic contented tied to the quality of gig work, rising municipality pressure, and regulatory gaps.

The constabulary person encountered respective instrumentality and bid cases arsenic well. One specified incident, described by Singh, progressive a idiosyncratic disappearing with a laptop helium was to deliver. At the clip of joining, helium concealed his erstwhile theft record, and the company, operating wrong a fast-expanding gig-work environment, failed to behaviour due inheritance checks. When the constabulary probed the case, they recovered that helium had been sacked from different institution due to the fact that of his alleged engagement successful a akin case.

In 2023, 13 instrumentality and bid cases involving transportation unit were reported. In 2024, the fig recorded was seven. In 2025 truthful far, the tally has risen to 24, according to the metropolis transgression records bureau.

Larger societal issue

According to R.S. Deshpande, erstwhile prof astatine the Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC), these rising violations are profoundly rooted successful broader socio-economic factors. He notes that though gig moving models, prevalent successful galore Western countries, person expanded rapidly successful India, the regulatory frameworks that enactment specified systems successful the West person not been developed here.

The lack of wide laws governing gig enactment has had cascading effects connected workers’ lives and has resulted successful increasing concerns related to postulation disruptions, unsafe roadworthy behaviour, and petty crimes. Researchers studying the gig system echoed his perspective, pointing besides to the deficiency of societal work among aggregators, lawmakers’ nonaccomplishment to code the multi-layered dimensions of gig work, and the availability and exploitation of inexpensive migrant labour arsenic large contributing factors. Singh agreed that these structural conditions amplify some postulation violations and crime.

Meeting with aggregators

As complaints grew, the Bengaluru Police convened a gathering past period with level aggregators that employment gig workers. During the meeting, constabulary presented an extended acceptable of documented violations committed by gig-economy workers and announced a bid of measures. They warned aggregators that they would present statesman fixing accountability straight connected the companies done existing laws if violations continued.

The largest class of violations involves postulation offences.

Micromobility EV scooters, fashionable due to the fact that they are inexpensive, lightweight, and casual to manoeuvre, marque up a large stock of these complaints. Yet, arsenic constabulary officers pointed out, astir nary ceremonial cases person been booked against riders of these scooters due to the fact that they bash not autumn nether the Motor Vehicle Act, 1988. “Legally, these scooters are treated similar bicycles alternatively than centrifugal vehicles,” said Sahil Bagla, DCP (East, Traffic). He noted that constabulary cannot enforce penalties unless the scooter causes a postulation disruption, though peculiar drives are conducted regularly to code specified behaviour.

According to documents accessed by The Hindu, different crimes listed by Bengaluru Police involving transportation workers see robbery, assault, molestation, theft, intersexual harassment and nationalist nuisance.

Another large contented is cause movement. Peddlers person often utilized transportation services to transport drugs to customers utilizing parcel options provided by aggregators. While galore deliveries are unintentional connected the portion of transportation partners, constabulary person recovered cases wherever transportation persons colluded with peddlers, who charged customers proscription fees and passed that wealth to transportation personnel. In different case, peddlers packaged drugs successful medium-sized boxes, filled them with dense objects to debar suspicion, and delivered them to locations without the cognition of the transportation person.

The constabulary besides emblem the behavioural interaction of transportation persons connected the public. C. Vamsi Krishna, Additional Commissioner (West), said, “When congestion is precocious and motorists spot transportation persons riding connected the footpath, it is highly apt that others volition travel the aforesaid path. Reinforcing specified behaviour threatens nationalist information and causes postulation disorderliness.”

Unrealistic deadlines

While transportation unit often get profiled and stigmatised arsenic violators, Vinay Sarathy, president of the United Food Delivery Partners’ Union, pointed retired that determination is immense unit connected transportation partners from 2 sides erstwhile they are moving nether time-bound transportation targets: from the aggregators and from the customers.

“Platforms represent arsenic if 10-minute transportation is real, but practically it cannot beryllium done so. Even the platforms are alert of it. On the different hand, erstwhile transportation partners are delayed owed to genuine issues connected the ground, specified arsenic traffic, aggregators contented warnings and sometimes adjacent enforce fines. The punishment tin spell arsenic acold arsenic deactivating the transportation partners’ IDs, which means they tin nary longer enactment with the company,” helium said.

He further added that though instances of customers shouting astatine transportation partners bash not hap precise frequently, the occupation inactive persists, and transportation partners perpetually person successful caput that they indispensable present the parcel quickly. “So, whenever the constabulary behaviour drives to ace down connected transportation partners, we person urged that they should alternatively clasp the companies (aggregators) responsible, due to the fact that they are the ones who acceptable unrealistic deadlines,” helium said.

Gajendra Singh, a transportation partner, speaking to The Hindu, said that customers suffer their temper astir of the clip erstwhile a parcel is delayed by adjacent 10 minutes. “There volition beryllium astatine slightest 2 calls if the bid is delayed by a fewer minutes. Sometimes, erstwhile we person to present aggregate orders, we are bound to beryllium a spot late, but that is not condoned by customers, and they maltreatment us,” Gajendra Singh said, adding that specified aspects of the occupation unit them to interruption postulation rules.

Victims themselves

While transportation workers are often progressive successful violations, they are besides predominant victims of crime. According to Akshay Hakay Machhindra, DCP (Central), theft is the astir communal transgression targeting transportation personnel. Many orders are placed aft 10 p.m., which requires transportation workers to navigate isolated oregon poorly lit routes precocious astatine night. Thieves exploit this vulnerability, often snatching mobile phones. Investigations person revealed that immoderate thieves specifically question retired transportation workers due to the fact that they cognize the workers trust heavy connected their phones for work.

Delivery unit person besides been threatened oregon intimidated by rowdy elements, sometimes being coerced into assisting successful transgression activities. In the ride-hailing segment, akin issues surface. Deepika M.G., a prof astatine Alliance University, noted that cab drivers get verbally abused by intoxicated passengers, and immoderate customers garbage to wage fares.

Industrial and Legislative failures

Deepika emphasised that gaps successful the regulatory model person contributed importantly to the rising fig of cases involving gig workers. When the Central authorities consolidated labour laws nether the caller labour codes, the Code connected Industrial Relations did not code gig enactment and applied lone to full-time employees. The Code connected Wages (2019) besides requires an employer–employee relationship, thing that does not beryllium successful the gig-work model.

If aggregators had been legally defined arsenic employers and gig workers arsenic employees, companies would person ceremonial accountability. This would compel them to make safer moving conditions, put successful training, and guarantee that workers bash not interruption laws successful the people of earning their wages. Instead, the existent strategy relies heavy connected incentives linked to accelerated deliveries, the fig of orders completed, and lawsuit ratings. These incentives, experts said, promote risky behaviour.

Most transportation workers are migrants who determination to the metropolis seeking amended livelihoods. Their tendency to gain and nonstop wealth location often drives them to instrumentality risks. Machhindra said that aggregators support “zero relationship” with transportation partners, arsenic the full strategy is governed by bid IDs. Delivery workers, helium said, are treated simply arsenic “a mode of transport”.

Deepika besides pointed retired that though Karnataka introduced the Gig Workers (Social Security and Welfare) Act, 2025, wide praised by stakeholders and activists for its progressive provisions, it has yet to beryllium afloat implemented.

Aggregators’ role

The constabulary person pointed to respective ways aggregators could trim violations: enforcing stricter hiring practices, providing training, linking incentives to zero postulation violations, and issuing wide behavioural SOPs. However, aggregators proceed to prosecute workers without due inheritance verification due to the fact that of precocious request and the availability of inexpensive labour. This has resulted successful wide problems.

Officers said aggregators debar work by defining themselves simply arsenic “service providers” and by offering incentives that promote unsafe, high-speed riding.

Delivery workers corroborate the relation of incentives. Naveen Raj, a transportation spouse from Bihar, said night-time incentives and fast-delivery bonuses importantly summation their earnings. Ratings besides matter, arsenic higher ratings pb to much orders. Another transportation partner, Luv Kumar, said micro EV scooters are cost-effective and casual to manoeuvre done constrictive lanes, allowing workers to marque much deliveries successful little time.

The metropolis Police Commissioner noted that aggregators often neglect to behaviour adjacent basal inheritance verification, allowing habitual offenders to participate the workforce.

Deepika argued for legislative reforms to modulate this system connected the whole. She pointed retired that a ample fig of workers from unorganised sectors person moved into gig work. With nary reforms to the Contract Labour Act regarding wages and incentives, oregon amended protections for unorganised workers, gig enactment becomes an charismatic enactment due to the fact that workers tin gain up to ₹30,000 to ₹40,000 a month. In contrast, different unorganised workers gain an mean of ₹15,000 a period and tin suffer an full month’s income to a azygous aesculapian bill. Thus, gig enactment appears much profitable contempt its risks.

Now, successful the lack of strict regulation, the Bengaluru Police person adopted a “fix accountability-or-book” approach.

Aggregators’ accountability

At the gathering held past month, the constabulary issued mandatory guidelines for gig-based work operators to amended information for some workers and the public. They said that companies indispensable behaviour thorough inheritance checks, guarantee that workers transportation ID cards, supply identifiable uniforms, activate SOS features linked to constabulary power rooms, support GPS tracking with astatine slightest 30 days of data, and instrumentality night-time information measures. Delivery workers indispensable besides person regular grooming connected safety, cyber-awareness, and due lawsuit conduct, the constabulary said.

Operators indispensable promptly stock verified idiosyncratic information with the police, study immoderate crimes oregon accidents involving workers, and suspend workers accused of misconduct until investigations are complete. Nodal officers volition beryllium held liable for compliance, and violations whitethorn effect successful ineligible action.

Although determination are nary nonstop ineligible provisions to complaint aggregators, the constabulary program to usage indirect sections nether the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita, 2023, including negligent behaviour oregon aiding transgression offences. They whitethorn besides urge licence cancellations of aggregators successful cases of repeated violations.