Delivery workers from major e-commerce, food delivery, and home service platforms across India are staging an all-India strike on Christmas Day, December 25th, and New Year's Eve, December 31st, 2025. The strike includes workers from companies like Swiggy, Zomato, Zepto, Blinkit, Urban Company, Amazon, and Flipkart. The associations representing gig workers claim the strike is in response to worsening working conditions and reduced commissions, coupled with a lack of social security.
The Karnataka App-based Workers Union stated that the strike is a protest against the "worsening working conditions in the gig and platform economy and the continued denial of fair wages, safety, dignity, and social security to platform-based gig workers". The Telangana Gig and Platform Workers Union (TGPWU) also said that the purpose of the strike is to protest the denial of fair wages, safety, dignity, and social security for delivery workers.
Several states, including Jharkhand, Karnataka, Telangana, and Rajasthan, have introduced legislation to ensure gig workers have basic rights, but these protections are not yet fully in place.
The key demands of the striking workers include: * Immediate withdrawal of "10-minute service" models, which workers say endanger their lives. * Fair and transparent wage structures and incentives that accurately reflect working hours and costs. * Mandatory rest breaks and reasonable working hours. * Assured and consistent work allocation without algorithmic discrimination. * Job security and social security, including health cover, accident insurance, and pension benefits. * An end to arbitrary penalties and ID blocking without due process. * Improved safety measures, including safety gear and accident insurance. * Stronger technical support for grievance redressal.
Shaik Salauddin, the national general secretary of the Indian Federation of App-Based Transport Workers, stated that delivery workers are being pushed to their "breaking point by unsafe work models, falling incomes, and total absence of social protection". He added, "This strike is a collective call for justice, dignity, and accountability. The government can no longer remain a silent spectator while platform companies profit at the cost of workers' lives".
The workers are urging both central and state governments to immediately regulate platform companies, enforce labor protections, implement social security frameworks for gig and platform workers, and recognize the right of gig workers to organize and collectively bargain.
As part of the protest, delivery partners from each platform will stop work for two hours, causing temporary disruptions across multiple cities. This coordinated action aims to draw attention to the issues faced by gig workers and push for improved working conditions and social security.
