Nagpur: The death of a food delivery app’s employee Nilesh Wasnik under the wheels of a rashly driven car has brought to fore the dismal lack of social security for delivery boys engaged by food aggregators. In some of the companies, the boys get insurance cover of Rs5 lakh for accidental death only. Wasnik also apparently had health cover worth Rs1 lakh a month after joining.
The death cover itself is too less to take care of their dependents, said the delivery boys. Though employed on a full-time basis, there is no provident fund (PF) for the delivery boys. PF also includes the benefits under Employees Deposit Linked Insurance (EDLI), under which compensation ranging from Rs2.5 lakh to Rs6 lakh is payable, which these employees do not get.
However, the companies are prompt in deducting tax at source from their wages. Many delivery boys told TOI tax is deducted even though their income was below the taxable limit of Rs2.5 lakh a year.
There are three major players operating in the city. The three combined are estimated to have employed over 4,000 delivery boys.
Wasnik’s colleagues, who observed a day’s strike after his death, said all that the deceased’s family would be getting from the company was Rs5 lakh from the insurance policy. Another Rs2 lakh was arranged through contributions by his colleagues. He leaves behind ageing parents and a younger brother. The family depends on daily wages from painting jobs.
Sources in Employees Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) said earlier an attempt was made in Bengaluru — the hub of IT industry — to cover the taxi drivers engaged by cab aggregators. However, the aggregators came up with data showing that the drivers were earning wages higher than the Rs15,000 limit. It is mandatory for an employer to deduct and contribute towards PF if the basic wages are within Rs15,000, but not if it is higher. The wages, especially of the delivery boys, are not expected to be very high in smaller cities like Nagpur, and a fresh exercise can be taken up, said the source in EPFO.
TOI spoke to a cross section of delivery boys engaged by different companies, and a majority of them said they earn just about Rs15,000. The salary amount is far lower if the petrol expenses borne by the delivery boys are deducted.
There are some who earn up to Rs60,000, but those are exceptions, they said. The average pay does not go beyond Rs15,000, said the delivery boys.
The payments are linked to the number of deliveries made in a day. A couple of companies were also found paying a fixed amount over and above the wages payable on delivery basis.
Even as boys engaged by two food deliver apps said they were insured, those from the third said they were not aware of any such scheme. TOI tried to get a comment from the companies on the employment conditions but there was no response.
Delivery boys of one of companies said the earlier system of fixed wage component was done away with after the initial months. Now, the boys have to completely depend on the deliveries.
“Our earnings range from Rs3000 to Rs3,500 a week, which comes to around Rs12,000 a month. We have to remain online for 10 hours, which means the delivery boy has to be ready to rush for an order. There are select points where the boys wait to get their orders,” said a delivery boy requesting anonymity.
“Our company has a system of deducting money for the time a delivery boy is offline. There are times when there is no network and wages are promptly cut,” added another delivery boys. “This week, I earned only Rs450 due to such deductions,” he said.
“Most of the restaurants in the city close down by midnight but we are expected to be out till 1 to 1.30am waiting for orders,” said a delivery boy, also requesting anonymity. The delivery boys are not allowed to book their own orders through the app, they said.
At the same time, TOI also came across delivery boys who said they earned up to Rs30,000, which was much more than their previous employment. A couple of companies were found giving a fixed wage ranging up to Rs13,500 over and above what was earned from deliveries. However, the delivery boys are apprehensive about how long the trend would continue.
