'Hostages With Helmets': Raghav Chadha Slams Zomato's Deepinder Goyal Over 'Miscreants' Remarks
Chadha says he is pro-business and pro-startups but will never back exploitation dressed as progress.
Rajya Sabha MP Ragha Chadha called out Zomato's Deepinder Goyal on Saturday after the latter called the delivery workers who went on strike "miscreants".
"Delivery partners across India went on strike demanding basic dignity, fair pay, safety, predictable rules and social security. The response from the platform was to call them "miscreants" and turn a labour demand into a law & order narrative," Chadha posted on X.
"That is not just insulting, it is dangerous. Workers asking for fair pay are not criminals. And if your system needs police to keep running on its biggest day, that is not proof the system works. That is an admission it doesn't. If you need police to have your workers stay on the road, they're not employees. They're hostages with helmets," he added.
The comments come after Zomato's Deepinder Goyal defended quick commerce, claiming that only "0.1% miscreants" were behind strike-related disruption. He claimed in a further post that these "miscreants" organised the strike and were the ones the company had let go for fraud and food theft.
"These individuals want to arm twist us to let them back on to the platforms, and exploit the system for their own sake," Goyal had said. "And are perhaps being supported and instigated by politically motivated individuals who just want to stir up chaos for media mileage."
Chadha argued that the workers on strike should only be labelled as miscreants if there is express evidence of their law breaking.
"If anyone broke the law that day, act against them. But do not use a few incidents to brand protesting workers as “miscreants” and crush a legitimate demand for fair pay and dignity," Chadha said in his post. "Silencing questions by insulting the people asking them, is not leadership."
He also criticised Zomato's system of base pay per order, where volumes of delivery are an important metric, which may lead to prioritising fast driving. "This is also about Road Safety. Incentive structures that reward speed and punish delay put everyone at risk," he wrote.
Chada stated that he was not against entrepreneurship or commercial enterprise but took issue with Zomato's business practices.
"Let me be clear. I am pro-business and pro-startups. But I will never back exploitation dressed as progress. I am pro-industry, not pro-exploitation." Chada said. "Strange how everything becomes 'political agenda' the moment it threatens margins or stock prices," he added.
