One-Third of Blinkit's Delivery Workers Join Competitor Companies Following Strike Over Payout Structure

New Delhi: After a recent strike over a change in payout structure, nearly 1,000 delivery workers of Zomato-owned Blinkit in Delhi-NCR have moved to other businesses. Industry executives have stated that the said delivery executives have joined rival rapid commerce companies like Swiggy Instamart, Zepto, and Big Basket, as reported by The Economic Times.

This development could be another setback for Blinkit, following its move to change the payout system, which led to a week-long strike by its delivery executives. Blinkit cut the minimum payout to Rs 15 every trip with a distance-based component instead of the set Rs 25 per delivery and the Rs 7 peak hour incentive. The move was opposed by numerous Blinkit delivery staff in the Delhi-NCR region, which caused service interruptions in regions such as Noida, Greater Noida, Delhi, Gurugram, Ghaziabad, and Faridabad.

Despite the company's claims that operations are now resumed smoothly, several dark outlets in Delhi and Gurugram are still not being serviced as there are not enough delivery executives available. It should be emphasized that Blinkit has over 200 dark stores in Delhi-NCR. Delivery workers pick up items from these warehouses and deliver them to consumers within a 2-3 kilometer radius.

According to the article, Blinkit had nearly 3,000 delivery executives in Delhi-NCR on its platform before the strike. However, after protesting for a week, one-third of them have now switched to other platforms. Blinkit has begun recruiting new delivery executives since last week to address the shortage. Certain former Blinkit delivery workers have mentioned that the lower compensation structure prompted them to switch to other competing companies.

Blinkit stores re-opened

There was a chance that Blinkit may revise its decision on the wage structure, but it appears that the business has went ahead with it. Nearly 100 Blinkit stores were forced to close down indefinitely due to the delivery executives' strike; however, they have recently reopened. Zomato stated in a stock exchange filing on April 20 that the Blinkit disruption had little revenue effect on the quick-commerce subsidiary, and that the majority of the dark outlets had since reopened. Some delivery partners have returned to work due to a lack of resources or have permanently left Blinkit, while others seek to switch the company, according to one delivery partner who spoke to The Mooknayak.