Food delivery platform Zomato announced higher incentives for its delivery partners during peak hours on 31 December as it prepared for an anticipated surge in orders over New Year’s Eve. The hike, the company said, is part of its annual operating protocol for festive periods when demand typically rises and earning opportunities increase for delivery staff.
Zomato delivery incentives and the New Year’s Eve surge
The announcement came on a day when gig workers across India, including couriers for Zomato and rival Swiggy, staged a strike to protest pay, the absence of formal social security and challenging working conditions. Despite the timing, Zomato told Livemint that the incentive uplift was a routine step rather than a response to the ongoing protest.
“This is part of our standard annual operating protocol during festive periods, which typically see higher earning opportunities due to increased demand,” a spokesperson for Eternal, Zomato’s parent company, said in a statement to Livemint.
For customers, the incentive increase is intended to ensure stable delivery coverage and shorter fulfilment times during one of the busiest evenings of the year. For couriers, the higher rates during peak slots can translate into a meaningful boost to earnings on a single high-volume night.
Market analysts note that food delivery platforms commonly raise pay multipliers and offer slot-based bonuses around holidays to cope with order spikes. These measures help platforms manage supply and reward couriers for working high-demand windows, but they do not address longer-term concerns raised by gig workers regarding steady pay, benefits and employment protections.
Labour activists who organised the strike said that intermittent incentives and surge pay are insufficient substitutes for systematic protections such as minimum pay norms, social security contributions and clear grievance mechanisms. The protest highlights an ongoing tension in the gig economy: flexible, on-demand work models versus the need for predictable incomes and worker safeguards.
Platform operators, for their part, argue that incentive schemes are one tool among many used to balance consumer demand and courier availability. Higher incentives on specific dates are framed as temporary measures tied to customer demand rather than permanent wage adjustments.
Industry observers say the episode could intensify calls for regulatory clarity. Several state and national authorities have begun exploring frameworks to improve gig-worker protections while preserving the operational flexibility that underpins app-based services. Any future rules may look at minimum remuneration, access to social security, and dispute resolution mechanisms tailored to gig work.
As consumers celebrated the year end, Zomato’s move to increase delivery incentives sought to limit disruptions on a commercially important night. Whether such ad hoc measures will quell broader demands from gig workers remains uncertain; labour groups continue to press for structural reforms rather than one-off pay enhancements.
This is a developing story and may be updated as platforms, workers and regulators respond to the protest and the holiday demand surge.
Key Takeaways:
- Zomato increased delivery incentives for peak hours on 31 December in anticipation of higher order volumes and opportunities for delivery workers.
- The move coincides with a nationwide strike by gig workers protesting pay and social security, though Zomato says the incentive was part of its routine festive protocol.
- Higher incentives aim to secure coverage during peak demand, but broader labour reforms for gig workers remain an open issue.
