NEW DELHI, Jan. 14 -- Gig workers in the national capital on Tuesday said quick-commerce platforms' alleged move to drop the standard 10-minute delivery promises to customers makes little difference to them ground. With a bulk of their earnings dependent on a higher volume of deliveries, the pressure to make quick deliveries, they said, would remain. On Christmas and New Year's eve in 2025, gig workers held strikes to draw attention what they say are unsafe delivery demands made of them and the lack of adequate health, safety and income protections in the event of accidents. With no guaranteed minimum wage and a low per-delivery rate, the agents who spoke to HT said they are forced to rely heavily on incentives provided by the platforms, which fluctuate and are not guaranteed. They asked not to be named fearing action from companies. A 19-year-old delivery partner operating in west Delhi said that it takes over 35 deliveries a day to earn between Rs.1,200-1,500 a day and he is barely able to make ends meet. "After working for nearly 15 hours, we are able to earn Rs 1,500-1,600 and less if we work for lesser hours. We drive on the wrong side and risk our lives to make maximum deliveries and to earn incentives which come with an earned amount." While there is no compulsion to deliver within a certain time limit, many of the incentives only unlock at a certain volume of deliveries - this can force gig workers to deliver quickly if they want to earn a certain amount. "There is no time limit within which we must deliver an order but the volume of orders we deliver and the time within which we order them is directly related to our incentives and rating," said a 25-year-old delivery agent who works in the Civil Lines area. As a 26-year-old delivery partner in west Delhi explained, "For instance, to earn an incentive of Rs.440, I have to earn Rs.875. I get around Rs.15 from a delivery before 6 pm and about Rs.25 after. So roughly, I have to make around 40 deliveries in a day." The incentive structure also changes daily, and even through the day. "The incentive structure depends on how heavy demand is, whether it is the festive season, whether weather conditions are extreme," another delivery agent said, adding, "The problem with this structure is that there is no regulated pay, as in if I have logged in for three hours and demand is very low that day, I do not get any incentive." Certain incentives are also linked to the number of hours they work. A 20-year-old delivery partner said he is tied to an offer that gives him an incentive if he works nearly 15 hours a day. Delivery agents also stressed that they had no information about the developments. The 25-year-old delivery agent quoted above said, "No formal communication about the 10-minute branding being removed has been communicated to us yet, but even if it is, that changes very little on the ground for us. We are happy that something positive is coming out from us raising our voices but this is not nearly enough." On Tuesday, he earned an incentive of Rs.144 after completing 22 deliveries between 10 am and 3pm. Dharmendra Kumar, the national president of the Amazon India Workers' Union, welcomed the move, but added that it "does not change the business model as there is still no minimum wage, insurance or safety measures for the workers in place"....