Blinkit delivery partners’ strike on, dark stores shut

Gurugram, April 16

The strike of the delivery partners of Zomato-owned quick commerce platform Blinkit entered the third day today. The strike has reportedly led to shutting down of over 100 dark stores of Blinkit in Delhi, Gurugram, Faridabad, Ghaziabad, Noida and Greater Noida.

The worst hit are the stores in Gurugram, one of the biggest consumer base for the aggregator application. These locations are being shown temporarily unavailable on account of the “store being under maintenance” on the mobile phone application of Blinkit.

Change in payout structure

• The delivery partners are protesting the change in their payout structure.
• They were paid Rs 50 per order but last year it was reduced to Rs 25 per order.
• Now, it was being further reduced to Rs 15 with a distance-based fee component attached to it.

The delivery partners are protesting the change in their payout structure. They claim that the new structure would result in lesser earnings for them. Delivery executives from Gurugram and Faridabad said when they joined Blinkit, they were paid Rs 50 per order but last year it was reduced to Rs 25 per order. Now, it was being reduced further to Rs 15 with a distance-based fee component attached to it, they added. “One Blinkit dark stores operate within a radius of 2-3 km and the new pay structure would lead to a decrease in our earnings,” an executive said.

The consumers have also taken to social media platforms to raise their woes. They have also started using alternate platforms such as Zepto, Swiggy Insta, Big Basket and Amazon Fresh. However, owing to a sudden surge in demand even these applications are facing problems in making deliveries on time and “unavailable for service” notifications are displayed on these application due to the surge in traffic.

A 24-year-old delivery executive, Bindoy Khan (name changed), who works at MG road here, said, “We work very hard to deliver each consignment on time. The cut in earnings will leave us in losses. There is no point continuing the work as we will not be able to even pay for petrol.”

Meanwhile, the strike has emerged as an opportunity for local grocery stores. These have now raised delivery charges. “People especially senior citizens are contacting us. We are charging Rs 50 to 100 per delivery. The number of customers reaching at the shop has also increased. I have earned a month’s profit in three days,” said Suresh Singla, a grocery store owner in Noida.

Blinkit has around 400 dark stores across the country in 20 cities, and half of them are in Delhi-NCR.