India, Jan. 14 -- The recent strike by delivery partners of quick-commerce platforms has once again thrust India's gig economy into the spotlight. What began as a dispute over incentives, payouts and algorithmic transparency has quickly escalated into a larger moral and economic debate: Are digital platforms exploiting workers by transferring all risks onto them, or are critics demanding employment standards that are unrealistic for businesses that are still struggling to become profitable?

As with most polarised debates, the truth lies somewhere in between. And is made more uncomfortable by the contradictions we, as consumers and citizens, often choose to ignore.

On one side are critics who argue that food delivery and e-commerce platf...