“Look at the big picture”: Deepinder Goyal breaks down delivery partner revenue with hard facts

As debates over gig worker pay, job security and platform accountability heat up on social media, Zomato founder and CEO Deepinder Goyal has thrust himself into the spotlight by defending in detail the company’s profit structure for delivery partners. His comments come amid growing scrutiny of app-based platforms, including Zomato and its fast commerce arm Blinkit, over whether gig work offers sustainable livelihoods.

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Breakdown of hourly earnings

According to Goyal, the average hourly wage (EPH) for a Zomato delivery partner in 2025 stood at ₹102, excluding tips, up from ₹92 in 2024, a year-on-year increase of almost 11%. He said this upward trend was consistent over a longer period, contradicting claims that platform wages had stagnated.

Goyal pointed out that hourly revenue is calculated based on the total time a delivery person logs into the app, including the waiting time between orders. Even though revenues from “busy hours” – when partners are actively working – are higher, he argued that focusing only on that metric would give a distorted picture.

“If someone were to work 10 hours a day, 26 days a month, this would translate into approximately ₹26,500 per month in gross income,” Goyal wrote. After factoring in fuel and vehicle maintenance costs, which he estimates to be around 20%, the net monthly income would be close to ₹21,000.

Part-time work, not full-time

A key point in Goyal’s defense is that most delivery partners don’t consider gig work a full-time occupation. “Most delivery partners work a few hours and only a few days per month,” he noted, suggesting that comparisons to traditional salaried employment may be misplaced.

This framework has been at the heart of the broader debate online, where critics argue that platforms benefit from workers’ flexibility while avoiding accountability for minimum wages, social security and benefits. Proponents of gig work platforms, however, say that flexibility is precisely what attracts workers, many of whom use delivery work to supplement other sources of income.

Goyal’s comments appear to be aimed at reinforcing the idea that income should be viewed through the lens of flexibility rather than a fixed monthly salary.

Blinkit tips, transparency and comparisons

Addressing concerns over incentives and tipping, Goyal said delivery partners receive 100% of customers’ tips, without any 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 the payment gateway fees.

However, the spill remains limited in scale. Only around 5% of orders on Zomato include tipping, while that figure is lower – around 2.5% – on Blinkit, highlighting the differences in customer behavior between food delivery and fast food.