Quick commerce’s next hurdle is gig worker security, say industry executives
India’s fast-growing quick commerce sector is facing a social security reckoning, as nearly a crore gig workers remain outside formal welfare protections even as the industry continues to scale rapidly.
Industry experts say the pay-per-delivery model itself is not the core issue. Instead, the challenge lies in extending insurance, job security, and long-term benefits to workers who increasingly depend on gig roles as their primary source of income. According to Ramani Dathi, Chief Financial Officer of TeamLease Services, social security concerns are most acute for a significant minority of riders.
TeamLease Services Limited is an Indian recruitment and human resources services firm headquartered in Bengaluru. The company has a market capitalisation of about ₹2,660.72 crore, with its shares down nearly 45% over the past year.
“While a majority of these riders are doing it purely as a gig model, there is a percentage, at least 20% of these riders, who are doing it like full-time employment. And this is the percentage where there is a higher demand in terms of social security benefits,” Dathi said.
Although India’s new labour codes acknowledge the need for social security for gig workers, Dathi stated that implementation remains unclear. A major complication is that many workers operate across multiple platforms, making it difficult to assign responsibility for benefits. In response, some companies are beginning to shift backend logistics roles to full-time contract (FTC) arrangements to provide more structured employment.
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However, higher social security coverage comes with cost pressures. Saravanan CR, Chief Operating Officer of Updater Services, said flexibility remains central to the gig model, but margins are thin. “If you’re going to increase the social security… this is obviously going to increase the cost of overall this e-commerce and in the end of the day it is going to be the end users like us who are going to pay the cost,” he said.
Updater Services, a Chennai-based firm specialising in integrated facilities management and business services, has a market capitalisation of about ₹1,224.57 crore. Its shares have gained close to 50% over the past year.
While some workers are shifting toward permanent roles for long-term benefits, many continue to prefer gig work. Dathi explained that FTC roles often lead to lower take-home pay due to mandatory deductions for the provident fund (PF) and Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC).
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“This is the main reason why even a large chunk of workers are still preferring the gig model rather than switching to a contract or a full-time employment model. So, it’s also a choice of the worker here, not just the platforms,” she said.
Despite these structural and regulatory challenges, quick commerce remains a strong hiring engine. Dathi said the segment has driven TeamLease’s growth over the past two years, with expansion accelerating in tier-2 and tier-3 cities. Quick commerce and e-commerce roles make up about 6% of the firm’s total headcount but contribute 20–25% of annual growth, with 3,000–4,000 placements made every month.
For the entire discussion, watch the accompanying video
