Check out how much the Indian gig workers earn when compared to the workers in the rest of the rest of the world

Lately, there has been a lot of buzz going around about gig workers or delivery agents in India not getting fair wages for the amount of work they do. There were also concerns raised about the 10-minute delivery policy by some apps that put the riders at risk, as if they don’t deliver the order in time, their incentives are cut, lowering their income.

Today, only an accident involving a Swiggy delivery agent is reported in New Delhi, where the agent was hit by a car. A Blinkit worker also posted about the pressure of delivering items in 10 minutes and how he has faced a few accidents while delivering such orders due to the rush.

Now, amidst all this struggle, how much are the Indian gig workers actually getting paid? Well, there is no definitive amount paid to the delivery agents. They are paid on the per order basis and mostly based on the hours worked, incentives, demand surge, and rating. And to earn more, sometimes the agents have to work more hours.

Reportedly, it is estimated that a full-time delivery partner in a metro city can earn up to Rs 30,000 a month, depending on multiple variables as mentioned above. Recently, the delivery partners have also gone on strike across India, demanding Rs 40,000 per month minimum pay and labour rights.

With this growing tension, Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal shared a fact sheet detailing the average income of the company’s delivery partners, among other details. He revealed that in 2025, average earnings per hour (EPH), excluding tips, for a delivery partner on Zomato were Rs 102 compared to Rs 92 in 2024. He mentioned that “But if someone were to work for 10 hours/day, 26 days/month, this translates to Rs 26,500/month in gross earnings. After accounting for fuel and maintenance (~20%), the net earnings for the partners are Rs 21,000/month.”

He also specified that the delivery partners are not shown a 10-minute time or countdown in the delivery app. Faster deliveries are primarily due to their stores being closer to customers and not by higher speeds on the road.

On the contrary, if you take a look at the gig workers in the rest of the world, two days ago, new key worker protection laws came into effect in New York City, as per which grocery delivery apps were asked to pay workers at least $21.44 (around Rs 1,965) an hour (excluding tips) with annual increases. Apps must ensure timely payments, transparency, and tipping fairness.

In related news, at the beginning of this month, MP Raghav Chadha announced that the Central Government has drafted Social Security Rules for delivery riders. As per the rules, the riders will now be recognised by law, eligibility for Social security if worked for 90 days in a year for a platform or more than one platform for 120 days a year, registration process for workers will take place on the government portal, companies will be legally bound to register all the workers and share the data with the government and there will also be a Social Security fund and National Social Security Board.

This move is taken to give workers job security and look after their safety as well.