Zomato founder Deepinder Goyal says gig economy ‘reminder of systemic inequality’

Deepinder Goyal, Founder & CEO, Zomato.

Days after the New Year’s Eve protest by gig and delivery workers across the country, Zomato founder Deepinder Goyal on Friday said that the gig economy is a “reminder of systemic inequality”, crediting it for purportedly “shattering” the “invisibility” of the poor’s labour in India.

In what Mr. Goyal referred to as his “last one on the topic” in his series of statements on social media over the December 31 protests, he argued that this was the “first time in history at this scale” that the working class and consuming class are interacting face-to-face.

He went on to argue that before gig work, “the rich could enjoy luxury without moral discomfort”, adding that this “discomfort with our own selves is why we are uncomfortable about the gig economy”. “Visibility is the price of progress”, he posited.

This statement from Mr. Goyal came after a series of statements about the protest over the last two days. In these statements, he claimed that the protests had largely left order and deliveries on his companies’ platforms unaffected, referred to protesting workers as “miscreants”, and alleged that many riders willing to work during the protest were purportedly prevented from doing so.

The protesting gig-workers were demanding an end to 10-minute delivery, basic pay, regulated work hours, safe working conditions, social security, and recognition as workers, among others.

Mr. Goyal went on to say in his Friday statement that neither banning gig work nor “over-regulating” was the answer to the “discomfort” caused by the gig economy.

He instead insisted that using “this discomfort to build something better (which we keep doing continuously)” was the way out, arguing that banning it ot regulating it further would only help the “consuming class feel virtuous in the dark.”

“We aren’t just debating economics. We are confronting guilt. That ₹800 order might equal their entire day’s earnings after fuel, bike rent, and app cuts. We tip awkwardly, or avoid eye contact, because the inequality is no longer abstract. It’s personal. Pre-gig era, the rich could enjoy luxury without moral discomfort. Labor was out of sight. Now, every doorbell ring is a reminder of systemic inequality,” he said.