Coronavirus: Helpless Swiggy, Zomato riders pleads to govt for help

HYDERABAD: After the Telangana state baning the peration of food aggregators like Zomato and Swiggy in the state since April 20 until further notice, Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao on Sunday said that except for suppliers of groceries and other daily needs, food supply services such as Swiggy and Zomato have been banned in the State till further orders.

There are around five to eight thousand and even more Zomato and Swiggy riders covering every nooks and corner of the city, now crying for help from the state government.

The TS government took the decision after the case of 69 people in Delhi getting infected from a delivery boy was all over news. However, the delivery guys are not happy with this decision as they feel being left helpless as their income being solely dependent on that.

Sharing his greif M Mohan a swiggy rider from Tarnaka says, He had to ask his friends to lend him some money untill he gets back to work after lockdown as his payment is yet to be credited. "We use to earn extra income as tips on Cash on delivery ordere but that was also stopped due to precautionary measures. Earlier one delivery guy use to deliver 700 to 1,000 orders in a week now we complete 1,000 orders in a 3 weeks," adds Mohan.

R Shiva, a Zomato rider from Secunderabad shares, though having essential services pass and all proper documents he sometimes had to pay challans to pass checkposts, he says "I paid Rs 600 to the cops at check post even after having all proper documents and uniform."

"The orders were already less due to the lockdown and we were paid less now we have to be dependent on essential goods and our savings as there is no work for us," says Rajendra a Swiggy rider from Ameerpet.