Between Digital Platforms and the Deep Sea

Project Type

Since its emergence in 2015, the Indian food delivery app market has grown 500% and many former fishermen have turned to delivery driver work. The project explored details of food delivery work and the unfairness faced by workers. Over three months, 27 interviews were carried out with riders in the south Indian city of Chennai. The primary researcher also worked as a rider for five weeks to experience directly the apps being studied. The payment scheme was not standard across different food delivery companies. When recruited riders were refused a copy of the contract, middle-men did everything from creating temporary email logins to setting up riders’ bank details. Personal and financial details were shared over WhatsApp which is prone to misuse. There is a lack of organised training for important support features such as raising dispute resolution requests or reporting technical issues. 

The project contends that unfair practices in the app-based food delivery sector require immediate collective action or intervention by community practitioners, union/association leaders, labour activists and the riders themselves.