Zomato parent Eternal’s founder and CEO Deepinder Goyal on Thursday, January 1, 2026, addressed concerns around the company’s 10-minute delivery promise amid the nationwide gig workers’ strike on New Year’s Eve, saying the system is often misunderstood and misrepresented on social media.
Responding to criticism, Goyal acknowledged that while no system is perfect and there is always room for improvement, the portrayal of gig work as inherently exploitative is inaccurate.
“No system is perfect, and we are all for making it better than today. However, it is far from what it is being portrayed on social media by people who don’t understand how our system works and why,” Goyal said in a post on X.
How Zomato Enables 10-Minute Delivery
Explaining the operational mechanics behind Blinkit’s 10-minute delivery model, Goyal said speed is driven by system design and store density, not by pressuring delivery partners to ride fast.
According to him, once an order is placed, items are typically picked and packed within around 2.5 minutes. Delivery partners then travel less than two kilometres on average, taking roughly eight minutes at an average speed of about 15 kmph.
“I understand why everybody thinks 10 minutes must be risking lives, because it is indeed hard to imagine the sheer complexity of the system design which enables quick deliveries,” Goyal noted.
He also clarified that delivery partners are not shown customer-facing time commitments on their apps. “Delivery partners don’t even have a timer on their app to indicate what was the original time promised to the customer,” he added.
Why Millions Choose Platform Work
Goyal further said that if the platform economy were fundamentally unfair, it would not consistently attract and retain millions of workers. He urged critics to engage directly with delivery partners to understand their perspectives.
“If you’ve ever wanted to know why millions of Indians voluntarily take up platform work and sometimes even prefer it to regular jobs, just ask any rider partner when you get your next food or grocery order,” he said, adding that people would be “humbled” by their rational and honest responses.
Context: Nationwide Gig Workers’ Strike
The remarks come against the backdrop of a nationwide strike called by the Gig and Platform Service Workers Union (GIPSWU) on December 31, 2025. The union claimed that over one lakh workers across 22 cities participated in the protest, demanding better rights, welfare measures and dignity for gig and platform workers.
Despite the strike call, Zomato and Blinkit delivered over 75 lakh orders on New Year’s Eve, with Goyal earlier stating that operations were largely unaffected.
