"A tiny tweak to Zomato’s algorithm led to lost delivery riders, stolen bikes and missed wages" 07 October 2021

…On the night of September 26, without warning, the delivery platform had tweaked its algorithm to extend the riders’ delivery zones. Riders are usually assigned jobs within a prescribed area, normally around 10 kilometers. But all of a sudden, they found themselves being sent to pickups and drop-offs up to 40 kilometers away.

[The change meant] that some found it impossible to meet their daily quotas for deliveries, meaning they lost out on the incentives they need to make a living wage on the platform. Several alleged that the new delivery radiuses mean they’ve had to travel to unfamiliar places on the outskirts of the city, resulting in a surge of thefts of their phones and vehicles.

Zomato did not respond to requests for comment.

…Drivers say they increasingly feel beholden to unilateral decisions made by the platforms, which penalize them for not complying with policy changes, but offer them no opportunities for feedback or redress.

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Without formal redressal mechanisms for resolving issues, riders have started to take matters into their own hands. A recent survey by Rest of World and data company Premise found that 69% of platform workers in India have joined some kind of organized labor group or trade union, and 67% had participated in strikes or walkouts…

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Two days after the incident, Zomato rolled back the changes, but only for those using the platforms for over three years. The newer riders without an awareness of how things were in the past still have to play the game by the new rules.