India’s instant-delivery economy has expanded rapidly as consumers grow accustomed to ordering groceries, takeout and household staples with a few taps on a phone. Behind that convenience is a labour system struggling to keep workers moving beyond the lowest rung of the industry.
India’s gig and platform workforce reached about 7.7 million workers in 2024, and researchers expect that number to climb to 23 million by 2030, according to the International Journal of Population Data Science . Delivery work has become a primary entry point into the formal labour market for young workers and internal migrants; however, for many, it has not delivered upward mobility.
A growing body of research shows how precarious this work can be. The Fairwork India Ratings project found that major delivery platforms did not guarantee workers earnings that matched local minimum wages after fuel, maintenance and other expenses were deducted (https://fair.work/en/fw/publications/fairwork-india-2023/). Protests and work stoppages across cities such as Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Kolkata have echoed concerns about fluctuating incentives, higher fuel costs and reduced take-home pay, as reported by Inc42.
India has attempted to update its labour framework. The Code on Social Security, 2020, recognizes gig and platform workers and extends certain protections to them; however, rollout has been inconsistent and enforcement varies from state to state . For now, many workers remain in roles with limited safety nets and little chance to advance.
Although warehousing, logistics and fleet-coordination jobs frequently list openings and are expected to expand, delivery workers rarely transition into those roles. Job-skills guides note that warehouse and logistics skills are increasingly in demand ; however, these skills are not formally documented for most delivery workers, and training opportunities are fragmented or require time and costs many cannot absorb. Employers also lack standardized ways to evaluate riders’ transferable experience.
The difficulty is tied partly to economics. Quick-commerce and delivery firms operate on thin margins and face pressure to control costs. Analysts have reported that rising customer-acquisition costs, discounts and operational expenses leave limited room for raising wages or funding mobility programs . As long as the supply of new riders remains steady, platforms have few incentives to invest in skill development for existing workers.
A set of workforce tools is emerging to address this gap. One example is FirstWork, co-founded by Vardhan Kapoor and Shubham Choudhary, which builds onboarding, compliance and worker-credential infrastructure for employers. The company outlines its approach publicly on its website. Rather than creating a new training app, the model integrates micro-credentials into existing compliance workflows that workers already complete when uploading documents, verifying identity or renewing qualifications.
These systems allow companies to attach short learning modules to routine steps such as ID verification or safety checks. Over time, those modules can build a verifiable skill record, giving employers downstream in the logistics chain clearer insight into whether delivery workers have acquired basic warehouse, routing or scanning capabilities. Employers in warehousing and logistics continue to report difficulty hiring workers with those skills, and standardized credentialing could help close that gap.
For workers, these tools could offer a path toward more stable jobs with predictable hours. For employers, they may reduce churn in roles that require consistent staffing. For policymakers, they provide a clearer view of where mobility is breaking down in a sector critical to urban infrastructure.
India’s delivery workforce has grown into one of the country’s most visible labour segments. Whether it becomes a gateway into upward mobility or remains a cycle of low-wage, high-turnover jobs will depend on whether systems evolve to recognize and record the skills workers are already building on the job. If compliance processes can also capture capability, the industry may finally offer what many workers were promised at the start: a chance to move beyond the curb.
