‘Look at the full picture’: Deepinder Goyal breaks down delivery partner earnings with hard facts

As debates around gig worker pay, job security and platform accountability intensify on social media, Zomato founder and CEO Deepinder Goyal has stepped into the spotlight with a detailed defence of the company’s earnings structure for delivery partners. His comments come amid growing scrutiny of app-based platforms, including Zomato and its quick-commerce arm Blinkit, over whether gig work offers sustainable livelihoods.

In a multi-part post on X (formerly Twitter), Goyal laid out data points on average earnings, tips and working hours, arguing that delivery partner incomes have seen steady growth and that headline criticism often ignores how gig work actually functions.

Breaking down hourly earnings 

According to Goyal, the average earnings per hour (EPH) for a Zomato delivery partner in 2025 stood at ₹102, excluding tips — up from ₹92 in 2024, marking a year-on-year increase of nearly 11%. He said this upward trend has been consistent over a longer period, countering claims that platform wages have stagnated.

Goyal emphasised that earnings per hour are calculated based on the total time a delivery partner logs into the app, including waiting time between orders. While “busy hour” earnings — when partners are actively delivering — are higher, he argued that focusing on that metric alone would present a distorted picture.

“If someone were to work for 10 hours a day, 26 days a month, this translates to around ₹26,500 per month in gross earnings,” Goyal wrote. After accounting for fuel and vehicle maintenance costs, which he pegged at roughly 20%, net monthly earnings would be close to ₹21,000.

Part-time work, not full-time jobs 

A key point in Goyal’s defence is that most delivery partners do not treat gig work as a full-time occupation. “Most delivery partners work for a few hours and only a few days in a month,” he noted, suggesting that comparisons with traditional salaried employment may be misplaced.

This framing has been central to the wider debate online, where critics argue that platforms benefit from worker flexibility while avoiding responsibility for minimum wages, social security and benefits. Supporters of gig platforms, however, say flexibility is precisely what attracts workers, many of whom use delivery work to supplement other income sources.

Goyal’s comments appear aimed at reinforcing the idea that earnings should be viewed through the lens of flexibility rather than fixed monthly pay.

Tips, transparency and Blinkit comparisons 

Addressing concerns around incentives and tips, Goyal said delivery partners receive 100% of customer tips, with no deductions. The average tip per hour in 2025 was ₹2.6 on Zomato, up slightly from ₹2.4 in 2024. Tips, he added, are transferred instantly, and the company absorbs payment gateway charges.

However, tipping remains limited in scale. Only about 5% of orders on Zomato include tips, while the figure is lower — around 2.5% — on Blinkit, highlighting differences in customer behaviour between food delivery and quick-commerce.