Nearly 98% of gig workers earn under Rs 5 lakh per annum, shows TeamLease data

Thanks to the flexibility and nature of the job, India has seen a significant rise in the number of gig workers in the past few years. An increasing demand in rapidly growing sectors like quick commerce, food delivery and e-commerce, which together account for around 40 percent of the gig workforce, has also contributed to the rising number of gig workers.

India currently has around 10 million gig workers, up almost 30 percent from 7.7 million in 2020-21.

“This (upward) trend is expected to continue, with projections for 2029-30 estimating around 23.5 million gig workers, marking a massive 135 percent increase from the current figures, driven by factors like technology, changing work preferences, and evolving business needs,” said Neeti Sharma, CEO, TeamLease Digital.

Stagnating earnings

Despite a growing number of gig workers, earnings have not increased in tandem with the demand, those involved in the field say.

According to Shaik Salauddin, National General Secretary, Indian Federation of App-based Transport Workers (IFAT), payouts by platforms like Swiggy and Zomato have in fact decreased over the past few years.

“The transparency on how they (companies) calculate commissions is almost zero. Earlier it used to be somewhere around Rs 35 per order, which has now come down to Rs 10-15 per order. Even the delivery radius was earlier capped at 4 kilometres, which has now been bumped up to 8-10 kilometres,” said Salauddin, who is also the founder and President of the Telangana Gig and Platform Workers Union (TGPWU).

Moreover, delivery workers have also claimed to face “unexplained” or “arbitrary” deductions from their earnings due to skewed app algorithms, changing commission rates or deductions on online payments, which reduces their earnings further.

To be sure, gig worker earnings depend largely on the sector and the number of working hours they put in.

While there is some level of predictability in the earnings of delivery workers and the like, because they are aware of much is paid out for each order delivered and more, that is not the case with blue-collar gig workers.

As per TeamLease data, gig workers in digital marketing or software development can earn anywhere between Rs 30,000 and Rs 1 lakh per month, depending on their experience. That compares with Rs 18,000-40,000 per month that those working in e-commerce earn.

While the payout is lower, largely due to a skills gap, the range is smaller in the case of delivery executives.

Delivery executives are however better off than the dark store operators. These contractual staffers often earn lesser at Rs 15,000-30,000 monthly, TeamLease Digital data showed.

Companies that operate large delivery fleets and warehouses, like Swiggy, Zomato, Zepto, and Flipkart, currently employ the largest number of gig workers. These firms typically operate on a structured incentive model for workers, with payouts linked to the number of deliveries made. A threshold of minimum orders is set, which, if exceeded, usually translates to additional payouts.

Zomato, for instance, employed the services of over 1.5 million delivery workers in 2024 alone, its co-founder and Group CEO Deepinder Goyal revealed in a recent letter to shareholders while announcing the company’s Q3 FY25 quarterly results.

“The average monthly earnings for our delivery partners (calculated for delivery partners who logged-in for at least eight hours per day and 26 days per month) has increased to Rs 27,726 in calendar year 2024 (CY24). Even after accounting for estimated fuel cost (~Rs 5,000 per month), it is fairly attractive vis-à-vis alternate income opportunities for them,” Goyal said.

While earnings of Zomato’s gig workers has increased notably from Rs 23,709 in CY21, the needle has not moved much from Rs 27,109 in CY23.

Safety nets

To improve working conditions for delivery workers, companies are also offering them insurance covers for accidents, death, or health issues.

“The number of claims processed in favour of our delivery partners has more than doubled over the last four years to Rs 53 crore per annum. Around 55 percent of the claims in 2024 were paid to cover for medical expenses unrelated to accidents,” Goyal said.

Zomato’s old rival Swiggy, too, offers its delivery workers, as well as their families, insurance covers. The company had an average of 544,000 monthly delivery partners in Q3 FY25.

“All gig partners who deliver an order on Swiggy are given insurance cover for accident hospitalisation, accident fatality, accidental OPD, loss of pay up to 3 months, and free ambulance services,” the company said in a recent blogpost.

The Bengaluru-based firm has disbursed around Rs 30 crores in insurance claims annually over the past few years to delivery workers, of which over 15 percent were related to their family members.

“All our delivery partners on Swiggy get insurance benefits like accidental coverage of Rs 2 lakh, accidental death and disability cover of Rs 10 lakh, accidental OPD of Rs 10,000, loss of pay compensation up to 3 months in case of accident, and free, on-demand ambulance service right from their first order,” the company said.

However, several delivery workers said that the process of claiming insurance is cumbersome, and reimbursements are made too late.

“Workers have to initially use money out of our own pockets to pay for medical bills and treatment, after which we can file a claim for reimbursement – that is paid after 40 days. Many times, the insurance cover is not helpful because we do not have the money to pay for those bills in the first place,” IFAT's Salauddin said.

Besides insurance, companies like listed logistics major Delhivery, which operates with an average of 50,000 daily delivery partners, also offer workers subsidized electric vehicles, career growth programs, and other incentives, besides insurance.

“Over 1,000 EVs have been provided at reduced costs, lowering fuel expenses and increasing take-home pay. Furthermore, over 1,500 of our riders have been promoted to supervisory roles, managing dispatch centers and teams,” said Prashant Gazipur, Senior Vice President, Delhivery.

Lagging government support

The government has recently introduced several schemes for gig worker betterment, including the inclusion of gig and platform workers under the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) and Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY).

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in her Budget speech 2025, also announced that a total of one crore gig workers will get identity (ID) cards and offer them healthcare benefits under the PM Jan Arogya Yojana.

However, the implementation of these schemes has been a challenge.

“While the government has announced several schemes for gig workers, we don’t know what to expect in terms of a timeline for their implementation,” Salauddin said.

“Successful implementation depends on critical structural reforms, including mandatory data-sharing by aggregators and their financial contributions to social security funds. Without these measures, many workers will be excluded,” he concluded.

While gig workers gain recognition from the government and more companies come to the forefront to assist in all the ways they can, those on the field say more can be done in the sector that still faces teething issues as is the case with most emerging industries.