Zomato CEO Says 5,000 Delivery Workers Leave or Are Terminated Monthly
Zomato’s founder and CEO Deepinder Goyal said the company sees around 5,000 delivery partners terminated each month, mainly due to fraud or misuse of the platform and performance-related issues. He described this figure as part of the normal turnover in a large gig workforce, rather than widespread arbitrary dismissals.
Gig Work Is Highly Transient
Goyal explained that the food delivery business operates with a very large and fluid pool of workers, with many joining for short periods and leaving voluntarily. He said that in addition to the terminations, about 150,000 to 200,000 gig workers leave Zomato and its quick-commerce arm Blinkit each month, often because they view the work as temporary or part-time. The company also onboard a similar number of new delivery partners every month.
Reasons Behind Terminations
According to the CEO, most of the monthly terminations result from repeated or serious violations, such as marking orders delivered when they were not, improper cash-on-delivery handling, or other forms of misuse. Zomato uses an internal system to assess the credibility of delivery partners and customers to resolve disputes and enforce standards.
Workforce Size and Industry Context
Zomato and Blinkit together work with hundreds of thousands of active delivery partners nationwide. The CEO said the high churn reflects the inherent nature of gig employment, where flexibility and short-term engagement are norms. The company emphasised that termination figures should be viewed in the context of overall turnover and not as a targeted layoff programme.
Ongoing Gig Worker Concerns
The large turnover and termination figures come amid broader discussions about working conditions, pay, and benefits for gig economy workers in India, with some groups advocating for better social security protections and labour rules to cover platform workers more comprehensively.
