Did incentives really save New Year’s Eve? Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal says no

 Indians made full use of online delivery services in 2025, ordering an average of 9 meals a day for 365 days by a single man or collectively placing an order for 3.5 biryanis every second of the year. 

However, the same behaviour was almost interrupted as Indians began to prepare to end the year. Rumours of a gig worker strike began circulating on social media, with claims that it would affect services from Swiggy, Instamart, Zomato, and Blinkit. 

IFAT (Indian Federation of App-based Transport Workers), TGPWU (Telangana Gig and Platform Workers Union) and GIPSWU (Gig and Platform Service Workers Union) organised the nationwide strike demanding a complete ban on the 10-minute delivery model, calling it "10-minute torture," that forces them to take life-threatening risks in traffic to avoid penalties or losing their daily incentives.

In hindsight, all those who enjoyed their steaming hot meals or iced cold drinks on New Year’s Eve from the comfort of their homes needn’t have placed their orders with bated breath because the strike did not land. 

Some publications attributed the cancellation of the strike to additional incentives (Rs 120-150 per order) by food delivery giants, breathing a sigh of relief. The founder and CEO of Zomato, Deepinder Goyal, however, disagrees. 

Zomato and Blinkit delivered at a record pace yesterday, unaffected by calls for strikes that many of us heard over the past few days.

Support from local law enforcement helped keep the small number of miscreants in check, enabling 4.5 lakh+ delivery partners across both…

— Deepinder Goyal (@deepigoyal) January 1, 2026

According to Goyal, “4.5 lakh+ delivery partners across both platforms delivered more than 75 lakh orders (all-time high) to over 63 lakh customers during the day. This happened without any additional incentives for delivery partners - NYE does see higher incentives than usual days, and yesterday was no different than the past NYE days.”

He made this claim on January 1, 2026, in a tweet announcing the record-breaking sales Zomato and Blinkit had, “unaffected by calls for strikes that many of us heard over the past few days.”

While some social media users considered his tweet tone-deaf to the struggles and protests of the gig workers, others took downright offence when Goyal thanked the local law enforcement for keeping the small number of “miscreants” in check.

One user wrote on X (formerly Twitter), “Desperation for a paying job doesn't equal willing consent. Nobody, yes, nobody needs 10-minute delivery that risks lives,” while another used the platform to compare the exploitation of vulnerable gig workers to the systematic oppression practised in India’s caste system. 

Goyal’s tweet was a lengthy one that thanked not only the law enforcement authorities but also the delivery personnel “who showed up despite intimidation, stood their ground, and chose honest work and progress.”

He concluded his tweet defending the gig economy, asserting, “if a system were fundamentally unfair, it would not consistently attract and retain so many people who choose to work within it.”

He claimed that “the gig economy is one of India’s largest organised job creation engines, and its real impact will compound over time, when delivery partners’ children, supported by stable incomes and education, enter the workforce and help transform our country at scale.”