Doctoral Thesis

Digital Platforms and Food Delivery Systems in India: A Study of Zomato Workers in Delhi

PhD in Economics (2025)
Centre for Informal Sector and Labour Studies, School of Social Sciences
Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
Supervisor: Prof. Archana Prasad

Abstract

This doctoral research examines the political economy of food delivery platforms in India, with a specific focus on Zomato workers in Delhi. The study investigates how digital platforms restructure labour processes, the conditions under which gig workers operate, and the forms of resistance that emerge in response to algorithmic management and precarious employment.

Based on extensive field interviews with delivery workers in Delhi (Dec 2023 - Nov 2024), union leader consultations (AKEU, IFAT, TGPWU, AIGWU), and WhatsApp ethnography of worker organizing groups, the research documents:

  • How Zomato’s algorithmic management system controls workers without formal employment
  • The shift from rate-card to gig booking system and its impact on worker earnings
  • Mechanisms of platform extraction: opaque pay, penalties, surveillance, deactivation threats
  • Emerging forms of worker resistance: WhatsApp organizing, app-based unions, collective action
  • Comparative analysis: food delivery vs. quick commerce/store-based platform work

Key Contributions

  • Empirical documentation of algorithmic management in Indian food delivery platforms
  • Application of Labour Process Theory to platform work in the Global South
  • Analysis of worker resistance and union organizing in gig economy
  • Theoretical framework bridging platform capitalism, LPT, and Global South informality

Key Themes

  • Platform capitalism and market restructuring
  • Labour process and algorithmic control
  • Worker resistance and collective organization
  • Informality and precarity in the Global South
  • Policy implications for gig economy regulation

Selected Writing & Data Stories (DigitalLabour.tech)

Recent public writing and data stories are now published on DigitalLabour.tech:

For the full archive, see: digitallabour.tech

Blog & Public Writing

For accessible analysis and commentary on platform labour, algorithmic management, and AI and work, see the Blog.

Contact

For collaboration, citation queries, or access to research materials:

Email: maurya.abhinava@gmail.com