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New Delhi: Union Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has persuaded major app-based delivery aggregators to remove the controversial 10-minute delivery deadline, following a series of meetings aimed at addressing safety and working-condition concerns of gig workers.
According to sources, a high-level meeting was held with leading quick-commerce and food-delivery platforms, including Blinkit, Zepto, Zomato and Swiggy, to review delivery timelines and their impact on riders. Blinkit has already dropped the 10-minute delivery claim from its branding, changing its tagline from “10,000+ products delivered in 10 minutes” to “30,000+ products delivered at your doorstep”. Other platforms are expected to follow suit in the coming days.
The move is being seen as a significant step towards improving road safety, reducing work pressure, and ensuring more humane working conditions for delivery partners, who have long complained that ultra-fast delivery promises encourage rash driving and increase accident risks.
The issue has gained momentum in recent weeks amid a broader debate on gig workers’ rights. During the recent Parliament session, AAP Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha raised concerns about the “pain and misery” faced by gig workers, especially during extreme weather and peak hours. He called for regulatory oversight of quick-commerce platforms and demanded social security, dignity, protection, and fair remuneration for app-based workers.
Reacting to the reported decision, Chadha welcomed the Centre’s intervention, describing it as a much-needed corrective step that prioritises worker safety over marketing gimmicks.
The development also comes in the backdrop of the Code on Social Security, 2020, which came into force on November 21, 2025. For the first time, the law formally defines “gig workers” and “platform workers”. It provides for social security measures, including life and disability cover, accident insurance, health and maternity benefits, and old-age protection. It also envisages a dedicated Social Security Fund and a National Social Security Board to oversee welfare schemes for gig and platform workers.
With the removal of the 10-minute delivery deadline, labour experts say the focus is gradually shifting from speed-driven business models to worker safety and sustainable employment practices—marking a potential turning point in India’s fast-growing gig economy.
