The Gig and Platform Service Staff Union (GIPSWU) has referred to as for a five-hour shutdown of app-based supply and transportation providers right this moment from 12 midday to five PM, in protest towards the sharp hike in petrol and diesel costs introduced on Might 15, 2026.

The union has additionally submitted memorandums to the Authorities of India and to main digital platforms demanding a direct enhance in per-kilometre fee charges for employees.

The shutdown name implies that supply employees related to platforms like Zomato, Swiggy, Blinkit, Zepto, Ola, Uber, Rapido, Porter, Amazon Flex, Dunzo, City Firm, and Instamart have been urged to cease accepting orders throughout the five-hour window.

What triggered the protest

Oil advertising firms raised petrol and diesel costs by roughly Rs 3 per litre on Might 15, 2026, in what’s being described as the primary main nationwide retail gasoline value hike in almost 4 years.

Following the revision, petrol in Delhi prices roughly Rs 97.77 per litre and diesel round Rs 90.67 per litre.

The worth enhance is linked to rising worldwide crude oil costs pushed by ongoing battle and instability in West Asia, significantly tensions involving Iran and disruptions across the Strait of Hormuz. This comes on prime of an earlier enhance in LPG cylinder costs, which had already added to the monetary burden on working-class households and gig employees alike.

Union President Seema Singh described the gasoline hike as a direct blow to employees who’re already coping with excessive warmth situations.

“Supply employees related to firms corresponding to Swiggy, Zomato and Blinkit won’t be able to bear the impression of rising petrol and diesel costs throughout the ongoing extreme heatwave situations,” she stated.

Singh urged each the federal government and the platforms to step ahead and declare a minimal service price of Rs 20 per kilometre, warning that with none aid, many employees could also be pressured to depart the sector fully.

Nationwide Coordinator Nirmal Gorana put the dimensions of the issue in context. Of the almost 60 crore employees in India’s unorganised sector, round 1.2 crore are gig and platform employees. A lot of these employees are fully depending on bikes and scooters to earn their each day revenue, which suggests each enhance in gasoline costs immediately cuts into what they take house on the finish of the day.

“Each enhance in petrol and diesel costs immediately impacts the each day earnings of ladies gig employees, supply employees and drivers as a result of expenditure on gasoline, car upkeep, servicing and transportation instantly will increase whereas firms don’t proportionately revise their fee buildings,” Gorana stated.

Staff for app-based firms sometimes journey lengthy distances every day to fulfil supply and transportation assignments, with many logging between 10 and 14 hours in troublesome climate and heavy site visitors.

Regardless of this, the union stated a number of platforms haven’t revised their per-kilometre compensation in keeping with rising operational prices.

In line with estimates printed by NITI Aayog, India had roughly 77 lakh gig employees in 2020-21. That quantity is projected to develop to round 2.35 crore by 2029-30. A considerable portion of this workforce is engaged in app-based meals supply, grocery supply, logistics, ride-hailing, and different digital platform providers, making them immediately uncovered to gasoline value adjustments.

GIPSWU famous that gig employees have lengthy been demanding a central legislation that particularly protects their rights and offers them with a steady revenue framework. Within the absence of such a legislation, the union says, gasoline value hikes fall fully on the employees with no mechanism to get better the extra value.

GIPSWU has submitted a memorandum to the Authorities of India asking it to problem applicable instructions to app-based and digital platform firms for revision and enhance of supply costs and kilometre-based fee charges, in order that the complete burden of rising gasoline prices doesn’t fall on employees alone.

Separate memorandums have been submitted on to Zomato, Swiggy, Blinkit, Zepto, Dunzo, City Firm, Ola, Uber, Rapido, Porter, Amazon Flex, Instamart, and different digital platform firms looking for instant revision of fee buildings, a rise in kilometre-based supply charges, and cheap compensation for rising gasoline bills.