that riders were not penalised and could deliver at their own pace and rhythm as dark stores are always near destination sites delivery riders disagreed in their rush many of them told reuters they mark orders as having been delivered even before they get to the destination and if a customer complained about the practice they faced a penalty of rs 300 a blinkit app screenshot provided by one driver showed the term mdnd or marked delivered not delivered used to designate such items frustration was also on display in the conversation on a whatsapp group of blinkit riders in mumbai reviewed by reuters ban this 10minute delivery said one user after pictures were posted of a rider said to have been injured in a deadline rush the concerns reflect the dark side of indias booming gig economy in which workers often say they feel shortchanged or battle tough working conditionsbullish blinkit calls its service indistinguishable from magic and says it wants to become a 100billion business zepto has been valued at 570 million and has set its eyes on becoming a 20billion company already backed by investors such as usbased glade brook capital the instant delivery market is a 50billion opportunity indias largest offline retailer reliance retail ventures ltd said this month when it invested in dunzo another indian startup that runs a 19minute delivery service but unlike most foreign companies that charge 2 to 3 a delivery deliveries by indian startups are mostly free in a nation with a population of 14 billion potential customers with free delivery the business is unlikely to be viable said tn hari who heads human resources at online grocery bigbasket which delivers most orders within five hours and with a delivery fee that makes it viable the market size is likely to be small for now indians are hooked deliveries on new years eve included more than 43000 cans of fizzy drinks a blinkit investor said on twitter adding 33440 condoms were ordered on letsblinkit today someone ordered 80 condoms in one go reuters aditi shah chandini monnappa and chris thomas contributed to this story reuters published on jan 24 2022 at 0818 am ist telegram facebook copy link be the first one to comment comment now comments comment now read comment 1 all comments post post find this comment offensive choose your reason below and click on the submit button this will alert our moderators to take actions reasons for reporting foul language defamatory inciting hatred against a certain community out of context spam others report join the community of 2m industry professionals subscribe to our newsletter to get latest insights analysis download etretail app get realtime updates save your favourite articles scan to download app online grocery online delivery 10minute delivery blinkit zepto dunzo bigbasket instamart homenewsdelivery race among indian grocery startups brings road safety risks