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Incentives, penalties, pay loss keep delivery workers on the job through hot days

Scroll | May 3, 2026 12:40 AM CST

“No matter if it is hot or raining, we have to work,” says 30-year-old Rakesh Sahu (name changed), from Uttar Pradesh’s Jaunpur, who works as a delivery agent for Swiggy in Delhi. When IndiaSpend met him in early April in Saket, he had a cloth wrapped around his head, and a cap on to protect from Delhi’s intense heat.

India had 7.7 million gig workers in 2020-21, a number projected to reach 23 million by 2029-30. Working 12 hours a day in the heat, with little or no provision for shade, drinking water and toilets, takes a toll on millions of India’s gig and platform workers. Lack of social security, paid leave or income protections means the workers cannot afford to take time off of work to rest and recuperate.

“When we climb three to five floors in apartment complexes, we get dizzy. In many buildings, they do not even allow us to use the elevator,” says Ankit Soni from Bihar’s Siwan district, who has been working with Swiggy for three years.

IndiaSpend met 22-year-old Soni at Khadak Singh Da Dhaba in Malviya Nagar when he was collecting an order for delivery. “When the loo [hot, dry summer wind] blows, the conditions become even worse. Staying in the sun too...