The food aggregators and grocery companies in India are ready to up the thrilling game with the controversial 10-minute delivery.
The safety of delivery partners on the road has been the most talked-about topic all. Many internet users have noted down their experiences with the quick commerce apps, saying that the drivers who delivered to them were under stress, have been under minor accidents over speedy and rash driving, faced possible penalization over delivery lags, and over-the-top targets.
So, when Pramesh CS, Director of Tata Memorial Hospital called 10-minute grocery deliveries ‘inhuman’ for the delivery agents on Twitter, Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra retweeted his tweet and agreed with the sentiment.
In 2020, start-up Zepto started a 10-minute grocery delivery experiment. Swiggy also extended the same offer with its Instant delivery feature. Soon after, its primary competitor Zomato also joined the brigade and announced its 10-minute delivery plan as they didn’t want to stay far behind.
Despite disclaimers from the companies, the 10-minute delivery feature has attracted a lot of criticism. People have gone ahead to call this move ‘inhumane’, ‘insensitive’ and even “10-minute murder”.
Mahindra had retweeted a post by Tata Memorial director Pramesh CS, who said “the 10-minute delivery for grocery is just inhuman to the delivery person. Just stop it! Customers can live with a 2 or even a 6-hour delivery time.”
I agree… https://t.co/KRkReHNqWp
— anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) April 17, 2022
Only fair to hear another point of view… https://t.co/Hy6ixKvdHC
— anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) April 17, 2022
Zepto’s Reply
Palicha made a point of noting that quick commerce’s fundamental principle is not quicker deliveries, but smaller delivery radiuses. He said, “10-min delivery is about short distances, not fast speeds.”
He claimed that at Zepto, 10-minute delivery is possible when the distance is less than 2 km and that the science of quick delivery was not based on speed but the distance from the delivery point. Mahindra also responded to his response, saying that it was fair to hear the other side of the story.
However, Palicha’s explanation didn’t impress many. People expressed their concerns over the traffic, bad condition of roads, poor civic rules, time is taken to pick up or deliver products.
