Comic Kunal Kamra rang within the New 12 months with a jibe at Blinkit’s gig financial system mannequin, accusing the Zomato-backed platform’s CEO, Albinder Dhindsa, of exploiting supply employees.
Kamra, in a publish on X, branded platform homeowners as “landlords with out proudly owning any land,” as he questioned how a lot Blinkit paid its supply companions in 2024.
The controversy erupted after Dhindsa shared Blinkit’s record-breaking stats from New 12 months’s Eve. The fast-commerce app, which guarantees 10-minute deliveries, reported its highest-ever orders in a single day, together with the most important orders per minute (OPM), orders per hour (OPH), and whole ideas given to supply companions. Among the many evening’s high purchases: 1,22,356 packs of condoms, 45,531 bottles of water, 22,322 PartySmart tablets, and a pair of,434 packets of Eno. Dhindsa’s publish quipped, “Prep for after occasion?”
Kamra didn’t discover the numbers amusing. “Whereas we benefit from the comfort of fast commerce, let’s not ignore the darkish aspect,” he mentioned, accusing Blinkit and different platforms of providing “freedom employees can’t afford” whereas paying wages that fail to satisfy aspirations.
He known as the platform homeowners “thugs utilizing knowledge as oil with out paying for the oil fields” and demanded Dhindsa disclose common wages paid to supply companions final 12 months.
Dhindsa has but to reply.
Blinkit claims supply companions can earn as much as ₹50,000 monthly, together with incentives and advantages. Staff are paid weekly, with versatile shifts starting from 4 to 10 hours. Perks embody ₹10 lakh in unintentional and medical insurance coverage and becoming a member of bonuses of as much as ₹4,000.
Regardless of these claims, Kamra argued that gig employees stay underpaid and overworked, warning that such fashions are ripe for regulatory intervention. “Sometime there can be regulation that humbles them,” he mentioned.
This isn’t the primary time Kamra has taken on a tech CEO. In 2024, he sparred with Ola founder Bhavish Aggarwal over the after-sales service of Ola’s electrical scooters. Kamra had accused Ola of failing prospects with poor service and restricted restore choices, sparking a heated alternate on social media that highlighted rising dissatisfaction with gig-driven enterprise fashions.
