Swiggy executive says delivery jobs are flexible employment, warns against misapplying formal norms

As quick commerce firms retreat from ultra-fast delivery promises under government pressure, a senior Swiggy executive has sought to reframe India’s vast delivery workforce as a distinct and growing form of flexible employment rather than gig work, while underlining the company’s long-term growth plans in food delivery and its expanding use of artificial intelligence.

The remarks assume added significance after Blinkit, Zepto, Swiggy Instamart and Flipkart Minutes recently dropped their ‘10-minute’ delivery branding following concerns from the government and labour rights groups over rider safety. The move came after Union Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya urged companies to abandon rigid delivery timelines at a meeting last week. The debate has also been shaped by a nationwide gig workers’ strike on New Year’s Eve 2025, which highlighted issues around health, safety and income security.

‘Third pillar’ of the job market

Calling delivery partners a “third pillar” of India’s job market, Swiggy Food Marketplace CEO Rohit Kapoor said their work should be viewed as flexible employment, distinct from both formal jobs and entrepreneurship.

“Gig sounds like a little bit of a fancy term, but the reality is it’s flexible employment. And I truly see this as a third pillar,” Kapoor said.

He described formal employment as the first pillar and entrepreneurship as the second, clarifying that entrepreneurship includes small, self-run businesses. The delivery workforce, he said, creates an additional leg of livelihood creation, with people moving in and out of it alongside other forms of work.

Kapoor said almost 2.5 million people would have worked on the Swiggy platform at some point last year, underlining the scale and growth potential of the sector. He stressed that participants make their own choices about joining and staying in this work.

Call for differentiated regulation

Welcoming the government’s social security code, Kapoor said it was a step in the right direction but cautioned against applying formal employment norms to flexible work.

“My only request to every stakeholder is treat it truly as different from formal employment. The moment you apply the same parameters, you will end up throttling something which is truly different,” he said.

He added that the workforce is not monolithic, ranging from those seeking long-term engagement to students and others looking for short-term or supplementary income.

Vast untapped food delivery market

On business growth, Kapoor said Swiggy has no immediate plans for global expansion, citing the sheer size of the opportunity in India. He said only about 10–12 per cent of Indians have ever used food delivery services, leaving 85–90 per cent of the market untapped.

The company has guided markets to 18–20 per cent year-on-year growth in food delivery, with recent quarterly trends supporting that outlook. Kapoor noted that food delivery penetration in India remains well below Western and even some Asian markets, creating significant headroom for expansion.

AI adoption, drones still experimental

Kapoor said Swiggy is already using generative AI across its operations, calling it a source of “democratized intelligence” for management, restaurants and delivery partners. He said AI helps analyse customer service interactions, guide restaurant performance and assist delivery partners in finding higher-order zones.

Robotics is also being used, particularly in warehouses. However, Kapoor said drones and advanced robotics in food delivery remain experimental.

“I won’t say that it’s mainstream in the business,” he said, pointing to cost and last-mile delivery challenges that still need to be resolved.

With PTI inputs

Published: 20 Jan 2026, 12:02 pm IST

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