Beyond the box: The high stakes of India’s 10-minute delivery

During the Diwali Digital Strike of October 2025, workers switched off their phones during peak festival hours. It was a new form of collective bargaining that bypassed traditional picket lines, signalling that the fax machines were ready to jam the network.

This unrest simmers against the backdrop of a policy shift. The Government of India announced the implementation of four labour codes effective from 21 November 2025. These four laws rationalised 29 existing labour laws.

For the first time, terms like gig work, platform work, and aggregators have been legally defined. The new framework mandates that aggregators must contribute between 1% and 2% of their annual turnover (capped at 5% of the amount paid to workers) toward a social security fund. Furthermore, an Aadhaar-linked Universal Account Number aims to make welfare benefits portable across states regardless of migration.

However, for workers like Sunny (34), a tenth-pass immigrant from Uttar Pradesh working with Instamart (Swiggy) in Mumbai, the policy paradox is a daily reality. While the law offers “social security”, unions argue it effectively creates a permanent underclass by denying them full “employee” status and the accompanying minimum wage guarantees found in traditional sectors. “Initially, the job was exciting,” Sunny notes. “But the sheen has worn off. I am exhausted all the time... I am aware that I am expendable.”

Emotional algorithm

Vandana Vasudevan’s research in OTP Please introduces a Rasas (emotional) framework to understand this economy. Vasudevan contrasts the consumer’s pleasure and guilt with the worker’s anxiety and oppression.

The flexibility promised by platforms often masks a lack of control. Vasudevan documents the story of Mehtab Irfan, a 41-year-old delivery executive. When a customer’s QR payment failed, but they took the food anyway, customer support cancelled the order and refunded the buyer. Irfan was then trapped in a “rescue order” limbo, accused of fraud because he had no food to return to the restaurant.

The physical toll is equally stark. In another case, a porter delivery partner had his thumb cut in half while helping a customer move goods. Because he was a partner and not an employee, he received no compensation or medical assistance from the platform. For the delivery system, these are not just anecdotes; they are evidence of a chaotic handling environment where packages must withstand not just transit, but the frantic pace of workers who have no safety net.

The vanishing middle

The services sector remains the engine of India’s economic growth, but the fuel is changing. NITI Aayog data projects the gig workforce will surge to 23.5 million by 2030. However, the middle class of the workforce is vanishing. The economy is splitting into high-skill consulting and low-skill delivery with little in between.

For Davidson Jena (30), hailing from Odisha, a delivery partner with Blinkit, the freedom of the gig economy has hit a ceiling. “You will stagnate in the same job,” he admits, acknowledging there is no path from rider to supervisor. This stagnation is coupled with acute financial precarity: a 2024 report revealed that 90% of gig workers lack savings for emergencies. For partners like Om Rajesh Kantale (24), daily fuel costs alone can nullify the earnings from ten fast-and-furious deliveries.

The liability shield

For the packaging industry, the plight of the delivery worker offers a critical perspective on product design. In the gig economy, packaging can be a liability shield.

Delivery personnel are frequently the first to be blamed when a package is damaged or an item goes missing. Sunny notes that packaging is “simply a means to an end,” but when that end fails, the driver pays the price. This dynamic highlights the supreme importance of tamper-proof, robust secondary and tertiary packaging.

Jena favours paper packaging for its handling ease but notes that qCommerce items are often tossed into carry bags for frantic ten-minute dashes. This reality demands a shift in packaging innovation, solutions that ensure proof of integrity upon delivery, protecting the worker from unfair claims of theft or damage.

The dark store pressure

The pressure on these workers is driven by a supply chain model that is becoming increasingly demanding. Sudhir Jain, SVP and chief of integrated supply chain and people at Bira 91, points out that last-mile delivery now accounts for a staggering 53% of the total supply chain cost. “While the business is very lucrative... the key element is the people,” Jain observes. He highlights a critical gap in training where delivery partners are ill-equipped to navigate complex addresses. Inside the dark stores, managers are squeezed to hire ten people just to keep one, battling impossible attrition rates in a high-pressure environment.

Designing dignity

The industry stands at a crossroads. The current model, defined by algorithmic control and the externalisation of risk, is facing scrutiny. Jain advocates for a blend of technology and infrastructure changes, such as using AI for better address location and introducing parcel lockers in residential societies to reduce the time pressure of individual door knocks.

Ultimately, the packaging and print sectors have a vital role to play. By designing smarter, more secure packaging that facilitates easier handling and clearer identification, the industry can alleviate some of the friction in the last mile. As millions like Kantale, Jena, and Sunny continue to make the daily dose of happiness zoom to doorsteps, the challenge is to translate this immense labour capacity into a sustainable model, one where the cost of digital convenience is not paid for by the dignity of the person delivering it.