Surge charges on rainy days not paid to delivery executives

HYDERABAD: Food aggregator apps such as Swiggy and Zomato are capitalising on the high demand during the monsoon by charging customers surge fees. Rain in the city over the last month has caused food delivery rates to rise, with online food aggregators collecting surge fees in addition to regular delivery and distance charges.

A customer ordering food for a minimum Rs. 100 from a restaurant four to seven kilometres away must pay a minimum of Rs. 20 in surge fee apart from Rs. 40 delivery fee, which increases based on distance and weather conditions. Further, delivery and surge fees rise in proportion to the total bill amount.

The same is not being passed on to delivery agents. Further, food aggregator apps have set an unrealistic deadline of delivering packages within a seven-kilometre radius in 40 minutes. This puts enormous pressure on the delivery executives to meet the deadline, especially during inclement weather, and forces them to drive faster. Due to the recent heavy rains, delivery agents have suffered minor injuries in road mishaps caused by pothole-filled roads.

Ankit Kumar Mukesh Bhatt, a delivery executive with six years of experience, stated, "We deliver packages rain or shine. The companies do not pay us the surge fee that they collect from customers. It is extremely difficult for us to deliver packages in such adverse weather conditions. They enforce a strict deadline of delivering packages within 40 minutes in distances ranging from four to seven kilometres. In some places, we are unable to ride our bikes and must walk at least 500 metres. We have to give the details at the entry, we are not allowed in the regular lifts due to Covid pandemic, we have separate lifts, and all of this takes time."

He added that he worked for at least 13 hours and earned between Rs. 1,000 and Rs. 1,200. "For example, on Tuesday, I worked nearly five hours and only earned Rs. 105," he lamented.

"Most of the food delivery executives complained that even though it rained, they were not getting the surge charges," said Shaik Salauddin, founder state president of Telangana Gig and Platform Workers Union. "During the rainy days, there should be less targets to achieve incentives and delivery deadlines should be relaxed." During the July rains, many executives have fallen off their bikes due to the pathetic road conditions, he added.

Meanwhile, a Swiggy representative, stated, "Fleet managers who are on the field, after receiving the genuine report on rain, will switch to the rain mode, where the surge charges will be added to customers as well as the surge bonus is given to the delivery executive."