New Delhi : Blinkit has dropped its 10-minute delivery branding following government intervention and rising concerns over gig worker safety. This move comes weeks after delivery workers across platforms staged strikes in late December, raising issues around working conditions, delivery pressure, and lack of social security.
The government has been engaging with food delivery and quick commerce platforms after unions flagged that short delivery timelines could put delivery workers at risk. Sources said that Blinkit will remove references to “10-minute delivery” from all its brand messaging. This includes advertisements, promotional campaigns and social media communication. Instead, the focus is expected to shift away from fixed time commitments in public-facing messaging, with companies avoiding promises that could be seen as encouraging unsafe delivery behaviour.
During these discussions, the minister asked companies to remove fixed delivery time limits from their branding and marketing communication. The concern, according to sources, was that such timelines could increase pressure on delivery workers, even if companies argue that deliveries are enabled by store proximity and system design. The development comes against the backdrop of nationwide strike calls by gig and delivery workers on December 25 and December 31.
While user experiences across cities suggested that deliveries continued largely as normal on New Year’s Eve, the strikes brought renewed attention to the debate around ultra-fast deliveries and worker safety. Earlier, platform founders, including Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal, had publicly defended fast delivery models, saying they were based on system design rather than speed and that delivery partners were insured. However, the government’s intervention suggests a shift towards a more cautious public stance on fixed delivery promises.
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