When foot soldiers of e-commerce yearn for a morsel

in flexible (sometimes long) hours, earning more than their backgrounds had promised (average earnings for delivery executives range anywhere from ₹12,000 to ₹40,000 a month), but spending hours on bikes, racing against time to deliver parcels, doing contract jobs without job security or career growth, working without insurance and other benefits, and so on.

Just as the burgeoning mall culture provided lowskill or no-skill jobs to young lower-class Indians years ago, e-commerce is doing now.

This is informal urban economy at its best and its worst – best in that it offers a section of Indians a way out of their poverty, lack of education and debt; worst in that it encourages a work culture in which the informal supports and feeds the formal economy but it remains unregulated and unstructured. This means its workers can rarely claim the benefits of full employment.

The research on gig economies in cities across the world – delivery executives, ride-hailing or ride-sharing apps, food and home services to list a few – has pointed to the social costs borne by those at the bottom of the chain. And it has called for formalising these services as well as skilling the people. Food delivery executives in Indian cities saw an enormous rise in their earnings last year. That came from the boom in that space worth $700 million last year, according to consultancy firms; it is projected to grow three times in the next three years. There is no doubt that the gig economy is here to stay and helps keep unemployment levels down to an extent, but there’s a yawning gap between what it offers to skilled workers at the upper levels and what its foot soldiers take home.

The Zomato delivery executive was taken off the platform. Some will say he deserved to be. What do we know about his life circumstances that led him to steal food? Did he do too many deliveries that day and did not have time to eat? Did he steal because his very modest income was not sufficient? Did he spend all or most of it on his family’s multiple needs? His behaviour was inexcusable indeed; he should have shown more scruples. But, then, maintaining or preaching morality comes easier on a full stomach.