Blinkit drops 10-minute delivery commitment in India
What's the story
Blinkit, a leading player in the quick commerce space, is set to ditch its "10-minute delivery" branding. The decision comes after government intervention and concerns over the safety of gig workers. The move follows a series of strikes by delivery workers across platforms in late December, highlighting issues such as working conditions, delivery pressure, and lack of social security.
Policy shift
Government's role in rethinking delivery time promises
The intervention of Union Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has been instrumental in getting companies to rethink their fixed delivery time promises. According to India Today, Blinkit will remove all references to "10-minute delivery" from its branding, including ads, promotional campaigns, and social media posts. However, this doesn't mean that deliveries will become slower; instead, the focus will be on avoiding fixed time commitments in public-facing messaging.
Industry talks
Mandaviya's discussions with quick commerce companies
Mandaviya has held meetings with officials from Blinkit, Zepto, Swiggy, and Zomato. During these discussions, he asked companies to remove fixed delivery time limits from their branding and marketing communication. The concern was that such timelines could increase pressure on delivery workers, despite companies arguing that deliveries are enabled by store proximity and system design.
Compliance assurance
Assurance to remove delivery time commitments
All the companies involved have assured the government that they will remove delivery time commitments from their brand advertisements and social media platforms. This development comes against the backdrop of nationwide strike calls by gig and delivery workers on December 25 and December 31. Worker unions had accused platforms of pushing unsafe delivery models, lowering earnings, and offering limited social security.