Zomato's 10-minute delivery plan possible, but don’t punish: Delivery boys

The 10minute delivery plan teased by Zomato may have triggered fierce debates and memes but for its army of delivery boys they are more worried about their daily struggles While many are still unaware of Zomato Instant which will be piloted in Gurugram next month others say itrsquos not impossible considering that the company has a clear strategy for it Fix our woes first was their common refrain thoughAs per Zomato the super quick delivery of food will ride on its network of finishing stations that will be set up in proximity to highdemand customer neighbourhoods Each of these delivery stations will have 2030 of the companyrsquos bestseller items from various restaurants based on demand predictability and hyperlocal preferencesA Zomato delivery boy at Malad on Wednesday PicSatej ShindeThe announcement triggered a lot of backlash on Twitter with citizens raising concerns over the safety of the delivery boys At the same time jokes and memes centred around lsquo10 minutesrsquo popped up in large numbersFor the foot soldiers of the foodtech company rising fuel costs traffic jams inconsistency in incentives and less money in hand are among the challenges they encounter every dayAnother deliver partner at work at Churchgate PicBipin KokateldquoEven restaurants wonrsquot be able to prepare the meal so soonrdquo said Sarvesh Jadhav a delivery boy who had no idea about the plan his company founder Deepinder Goyal has in mindZomatos 10minute delivery plan possible but donrsquot punish say delivery boysGoyal took to Twitter on Tuesday to share more details He wrote ldquoZomato Instant will only be for items that are popular standardised and can therefore be dispatched within two minutesrdquo The instant delivery will also be limited to nearby specific locations he saidShaik Salauddin Indian Federation of Appbased Transport WorkersldquoTo fulfil our quick delivery promise we do not put any pressure on delivery partners to deliver food faster Nor do we penalise delivery partners for late deliveries The delivery partners are not informed of the promised time of delivery Time optimisation does not happen on the road and does not put any lives at riskrdquo added Vaidika Parashar from the communications team at ZomatoBut Sandesh Pachve a delivery boy at Bandra has a counter ldquoIf we go late for a delivery our payment wonrsquot be cut but our performance would say we have delivered late We would get a poor ratingrdquoDelivery boys said they have no option but to hurry in case of multiple orders Kamlesh Kumar a delivery boy at BKC said ldquoEarlier the delivery radius would just be around 25 km Now with it being 5 km and more it becomes difficultrdquo He admitted to coming from Juhu to BKC on an electric bike to deliver foodSometimes Pachve said even though the order is ready if the restaurant is in a mall they face difficulties in terms of entry However most believe that if the delivery radius is of the same area it is possible to have food delivered in 10 minutes provided the meal prep time is not includedlsquoArousing customer fantasyrsquoDespite a shorter area of delivery under the 10minute plan delivery boys are fearful of flouting traffic rules as the fine would have to be borne by them and not Zomato Shaik Salauddin national general secretary of the Indian Federation of Appbased Transport Workers IFAT said that companies like Zomato Swiggy Blinkit Instamart are ldquoarousing fantasy of instant deliveryrdquo amongst the customer ldquoBut at the same time these platforms wash of their hands by concealing the way they structure the work to portray as if delivery workers are independently engaging in traffic violations and hazardous driving conditions and risking themselves and the other pedestrians on the roadrdquo he saidThe company should focus more on the working condition of the delivery boys said Salauddin ldquoZomato should provide their delivery workers with access to washroom facilities resting areas with parking charging stations and WiFirdquoGood food in 10 minsPankaj Gupta founder of popular restaurant Oye Kake is not impressed at all He said ldquoI think this is bizarre and ridiculous It is not practical at all India does not have the infrastructure for that It is risking the lives of the delivery guys This is developing a habit in the customer that is difficult in the long run The market would move towards quantity instead of qualityoriented I would not be up for something if I was asked by Zomato Good food doesnrsquot come to you in 10 minutesrdquoAprilMonth when Zomato Instant will be piloted in GurugramlsquoPerformance gets hitrsquoSandesh Pachve delivery boylsquoIf we go late for a delivery our payment wonrsquot be cut but our performance would say we have delivered late We would get a poor ratingrsquoKamlesh Kumar delivery partnerlsquoEarlier the delivery radius would just be around 25 km Now with it being 5 km and more it becomes difficultrsquoShaik Salauddin Indian Federation of Appbased Transport WorkerslsquoThese platforms wash of their hands by concealing the way they structure the work to portray as if delivery workers are independently engaging in traffic violationsrsquoPankaj Gupta founder of Oye KakelsquoThe market would move towards quantity instead of qualityoriented I would not be up for something if I was asked by Zomato Good food doesnrsquot come to you in 10 minutesrsquo