Major quick commerce companies including Blinkit, Zepto, Swiggy, and Zomato have agreed to drop the “10-minute delivery” promise from their branding and advertisements.¹ The move follows discussions between quick-commerce companies and the Union Labour Ministry which has been reviewing the working conditions of delivery partners facing pressure to meet ultra-fast delivery deadlines.²

What Does It Mean

India’s booming quick-commerce sector, which capitalized heavily on the promise of instant deliveries within 10 minutes, is now undergoing a rebranding exercise following government intervention to end this assurance. Delivery partners and gig workers had raised serious safety and labour-related grievances, arguing that such ultra-short deadlines exert unsafe pressure, encourage risky riding behaviour, lead to long working hours, and offer inadequate compensation and social protection. To draw attention to these concerns, gig workers even staged a nationwide strike on New Year’s Eve.³

The government’s intervention to discontinue the promise of 10-minute deliveries is aimed at prioritizing worker safety, addressing unsafe delivery pressures, and removing a branding commitment that was perceived as incentivizing dangerous behaviour among riders.⁴

What is particularly notable, however, is that the recent intervention is limited to the marketing promise itself. It does not directly address issues of wages, pay structures, or worker safety frameworks. While the withdrawal of the 10-minute delivery promise is undoubtedly a welcome step in the context of the rapid expansion of quick commerce and the growing gig workforce, its impact remains largely symbolic.

The move nevertheless signals a shift away from hyper-competitive marketing practices that may compromise delivery-partner welfare. At the same time, it underscores the need for deeper structural reforms. The workers need to be provided with benefits and facilities and most of all, they need to be treated like employees and humans before forcing them into the corporate race.⁵ Ensuring fair wages, transparent pay mechanisms, and improved working conditions remains an unresolved challenge, as removing a tagline alone does not address the underlying vulnerabilities of gig workers.