Zomato sacks close to 5,000 gig workers a month for fraud: Deepinder Goyal

New Delhi, Jan 4 (IANS) Zomato sacks close to 5,000 gig workers a month due to cases involving fraud, while another 150,000 to 200,000 workers leave the fast food delivery platform on their own, its parent firm Eternal’s founder and CEO Deepinder Goyal said.

In a video podcast with YouTuber Raj Shamani, Goyal said that those who choose to leave the platform consider gig work as a temporary job.

Several gig workers operating on quick commerce and food delivery platforms, including Zomato, had gone on a flash strike during New Year’s Eve, in support of their demand for high wages, better working conditions and security coverage.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Labour and Employment has published the draft rules for the four labour codes, which also bring gig workers on board for various benefits such as minimum wage, health, occupational safety and social security coverage.

The government has invited feedback from stakeholders on these draft rules and aims to finally roll out the entire package of four labour codes across the country from April 1.

Under the draft rules, in order to be eligible for the benefits, a gig or platform worker must be associated with an aggregator for at least 90 days in a financial year to qualify for social security benefits created by the Centre. If a worker is engaged with more than one aggregator, the minimum requirement is fixed at 120 days.

The notification is dated December 30, 2025, and was issued a day before the gig and platform workers went on a flash strike for higher wages and better working conditions.

The rules clarify that a worker is considered “engaged” on any calendar day if they earn income for work done for an aggregator, regardless of how much they earn.

If a worker is associated with multiple aggregators, the number of engagement days will be added together across all aggregators. The draft also states that if a worker is engaged with three aggregators on the same calendar day, it will be counted as three separate days of engagement.

sps/vd