New Delhi: The heat in the capital city at 1 pm on Saturday, May 23, 2026, is less of a wave and more of an open furnace, but for Arbaaz, a delivery agent with Zepto, it’s just another day at work. Except, he doesn’t have a work ‘place’. He’s got his motorbike parked next to the quick commerce company’s ‘dark store’ at Govindpuri Metro Station. He’s got his lunch packet open in his hands and he’s perched on the burning rexine backseat. And there, on a hot, crowded street, the 25-year-old is eating lunch.Why? Because “there are no chairs, not even a tin shade, and no arrangement for cooled drinking water” made by Zepto, Arbaaz says. All he’s got is the Zepto app on his phone, which dings whenever an order arrives – usually someone with an ‘emergency’ forgot-to-buy moment for essentials like medicine or discretionary items like ice cream.Zepto delivery partner Arbaaz, perched on his bike outside Zepto’s Kalkaji outlet with his lunch, in the afternoon heat on May 23, 2026.The quick commerce business model survives on youth like Arbaaz taking ten minutes or fewer to rush whatever is demanded from a dark store – a mini-warehouse – to waiting customers. As a result, delivery ‘partners’ like him are a section of the population that must remain outdoors, always on the move, working regardless of the weather. And that has been excruciating this summer, as temperatures soar even before the worst summer month, dreaded June, arrives.A day earlier, on May 22, this reporter registered himself as a delivery partner with Zepto, Swiggy, Instamart and Blinkit. It was part of The Wire’s bid to better understand and explain to readers what being an Arbaaz – a gig worker – is really like during the ongoing heatwave.The Wire did this after visiting numerous quick-commerce stores across locations and companies where it spoke to scores of gig workers. Over several days, this reporter heard them describe the severe difficulties they faced as they worked in the heat – with little or no help from the companies.The Wire registered at the Zepto and Swiggy Instamart outlets near Govindpuri Metro Station in the Kalkaji area of the capital. For BlinkIt, we registered at the company’s Lajpat Nagar outlet. Registration was always quick, never taking longer than a few hours after the documents the companies wanted (Aadhaar, PAN card and so on) were submitted.However, during the onboarding process, none of the companies provided any guidance or information about precautions to be taken while working in Delhi’s extreme heat or during heatwave conditions. It was as if Arbaaz, sitting on his bike in the heat outside the Govindpuri Metro Station, did not exist for them.Swiggy’s Kalkaji dark storeAt around 4:30 pm on May 22, The Wire reached the Swiggy outlet at Kalkaji, ready to make deliveries like a real gig worker. The temperature outside was above 40 degrees Celsius. Outside the store was a bench that could barely accommodate four people. Many gig workers were standing out in the open, waiting for the familiar ding on their phone, indicating that an order had arrived. Then they would rush into the store, stock up and take off on their two-wheelers in the heat.The BigBasket and Zepto outlets were also close by, and groups of gig workers were waiting for orders outside them as well. Many sat on their bikes in the scorching heat, while a lucky few had found the shade of nearby trees.The Wire went online on the Swiggy app a short while after arriving. The first order was assigned in barely two minutes. The delivery location was around 3.3 kilometres away and the order would fetch a paltry Rs 29 for the trip there and back. We took off on a bike. The road ahead seemed to be melting in the heat. Blasts of hot air made it feel much worse.A few minutes later, a second order was received for another delivery, barely 0.8 kilometres away. The payment also shrank to just Rs 15 to get there and return.We stayed online for around 57 minutes that day, delivering these two orders, covering eight kilometres to the destination and back to the store.But the trips and the waiting had been exhausting. We felt desperately thirsty. With our total earnings at Rs 44, it made no sense to purchase even a bottle of water. However, the Swiggy outlet had no cool water for gig workers – its delivery ‘partners’. There was water, but it was warm. In fact, water fortified with glucose was available, but in the extreme heat, it had turned into undrinkable warm soup.The Wire sent an email to Swiggy Instamart the same day – May 22 – asking how it was taking care of gig workers during the heatwave, what incentives the riders could hope to earn for spending their days (or nights) outdoors in this weather, and how it had changed working conditions to factor in the heatwave.Swiggy Instamart responded on May 25, claiming it had provided cooling vests to its food delivery partners. According to the company, these vests could help reduce body temperature by 6 to 7 degrees. The company also said complementary glucose-fortified water, portable glucose sachets and high efficiency desert coolers were being provided at rest areas around Instamart store locations.Puzzled how we missed the coolers as well as the rest areas the company said it was installing them at, The Wire sent a follow up email. Were Instamart gig workers being given cooling vests? And what specific facilities were being provided at store locations?The company clarified again that cooling vests were only for those who delivered food (ordered on the Swiggy app). Also, it was still working on installing desert coolers at rest areas inside Instamart pods (its dark stores).A second trip to the Swiggy store, at nightTwo days later, on the night of Monday, May 25, The Wire returned to the Swiggy Instamart outlet in Kalkaji. We made two deliveries in an hour and seven minutes. The app showed Rs 49 had been earned for both orders combined.The first delivery, around one kilometre away, paid Rs 15, while the second delivery, for a distance of 3.9 kilometres, paid Rs 34.Delivery partners outside Zepto and Swiggy Instamart outlets in Delhi’s Kalkaji area while working at night on May 25, 2026, as a heatwavve boils the city.The heat was relatively lower during the night, but now a new issue arose – the app continuously sent notifications asking the drivers to complete orders quickly. Within minutes of finishing a delivery, repeated messages would appear on the app asking riders to return to the outlet immediately to take up the next order. There was constant pressure on drivers to remain active, to keep working.Both the Swiggy and Zepto outlets at Kalkaji had more delivery partners waiting outside the store during the night compared to the daytime.Many riders said they preferred the night “shift” (recall that they are not recognised as shift workers since they are “gig” workers) because delivering orders during the daytime heatwave had become extremely difficult.But at night, the lack of rest felt worse since the number of gig workers had risen. The riders lounged uncomfortably on their two wheelers parked outside, some taking naps on their bikes or scooters, next to their delivery bags, until they were ready to resume work or go home.A delivery partner naps on his bike outside Swiggy Instamart’s Kalkaji outlet at night, May 25, 2026.Zepto, Govindpuri, KalkajiOn the second day of reporting as a delivery partner, Saturday, May 23, at around 1 pm, The Wire arrived at the Zepto outlet near Govindpuri Metro Station in Kalkaji.Delhi is under intense heat stress on this day. The temperature is close to 43 degrees Celsius and hot winds blow across open spaces, especially the tar and cement roads. Outside the store, a large number of gig workers stand around, waiting for orders. Among them is Arbaaz, eating his lunch.Other gig workers, like Monu, also around 25 years old, tells The Wire what he feels about this line of work. “Constantly riding a bike and making deliveries is not easy in this heat,” he said, “But we have no other choice.”The Zepto store, Monu says, does not have even a medical kit. “If one of us gets injured or falls sick, there is no guarantee of getting immediate help,” he says, adding, “Companies make big claims about facilities provided, but the reality is very different. We somehow continue working despite the conditions, because we cannot [afford to] quit.”The Wire accepted two orders on the Zepto app that day. We drove nearly five kilometres (in total) to reach the destinations, and it was an extremely difficult task in Delhi’s intense, dry afternoon heat. Hot winds, the constant thirst and the physical strain of riding a bike with the sun beating down made the experience exhausting. Completing the two deliveries took nearly 50 minutes.After we delivered the first order and returned to the store, a new order notification appeared on the app within 6-10 minutes. This seemed true for the other gig workers too – barely would they return from a delivery than the next one would pop up on their phone, pushing them to keep working, quickly pick up incoming orders.The deliveries we made involved riding through residential societies, apartment buildings and market areas under Delhi’s harsh afternoon sun. The app showed a total earning of Rs 94 for the two orders, including the surge of Rs 20, the only incentive we received during the gig work we did.The Wire emailed Zepto questions about provisions to beat the heat. In its response, sent via a PR agency, Zepto’s Chief Operating Officer, Vikas Sharma, describes indoor and outdoor rest areas, access to drinking water and toilets, and additional cooling units as the heat rises.Here’s the response, reproduced in full:The Wire found a single cooler at Zepto’s Kalkaji store, and it was blowing warm air as there was no water in its tank. There was no proper seating arrangement for delivery partners, except a small bench inside the store that could accommodate four people. Cold drinking water was unavailable.There was a washroom outside the outlet, but it was in an extremely unhygienic state, spreading dirt and foul odours in the area. The claims in Zepto’s email appeared very different from the conditions observed at the store during reporting.The single washroom for delivery partners outside the Zepto and Swiggy Instamart outlets in Kalkaji, Delhi, May 23, 2026. The toilet area is unclean and poorly maintained.But Zepto’s email also prompted The Wire to cross-check the conditions at another store (not just its outlet near the Govindpuri Metro Station) for basic facilities for gig workers.Zepto store, JasolaOn Sunday, May 24, we drove to the Zepto store in Jasola area, but the situation here did not appear very different. There was no shaded rest area for riders outside the Jasola outlet. And there was a water dispenser at the store, but during our visit, we found the water can empty.A water dispenser with an empty can at Zepto’s Jasola outlet in Delhi.Just like the Zepto store at Kalkaji, riders stood outside the store in the heat, waiting for orders. There was no proper cooling arrangement around the outlet during our visit. The outlet’s toilet was dirty, unhygienic, spreading a foul smell all around.Several delivery partners told The Wire that despite spending long hours outside during the heatwave, this outlet lacked basic facilities. “The Jasola outlet does not have space for riders to sit,” says Shahbaz Hussain, a Zepto delivery partner at the Jasola outlet, adding, “So where exactly are these fans and coolers?”“The heat is so intense that we end up buying drinking water with our own money. There is neither a cooler, nor a fan, nor a proper place to sit here,” Hussain said. What is worse, sometimes local residents are abusive towards the gig workers for standing around, and there have even been incidents of fights and physical assaults. “But we have no option except to continue working,” he said, echoing the sentiment many others had expressed to The Wire – this is not a job they would do had they any choice.Hussain said that to deliver orders within ten minutes, they often weave through traffic, taking on a high proportion of risk.Meanwhile, on May 23, the government announced a hike in petrol prices – the third in the ten days since The Wire started to report on how gig workers were coping in the summer heat. Prices were now at nearly Rs 100 (Rs 99.51) per litre in Delhi. “But our earnings have not increased even by one rupee,” says Hussain. “In fact, earnings are falling day by day. Everyone comes here hoping to earn, but incomes are shrinking instead. I have been doing this work for the last three years, but the situation has become more difficult than before,” he said.Recall that making two deliveries, including surcharge, had earned The Wire’s gig worker Rs 94 in total, including surge charges. That’s not enough to buy even a litre of fuel.Screenshot of Zepto’s payment with the surge included, the only time The Wire team recevied such a payment during a stint as gig worker .Several riders rent the electric scooters on which they are commonly seen zipping around. Those, say the workers The Wire met, cost Rs 200 or 300 per day in just rental, exclusive of maintenance costs. The security deposit for these scooters is Rs 1,500 to 2,000.As a result, even if they work for close to 12 hours a day, their earnings rarely cross Rs 1,000. After deducting fuel costs, rentals, they are left with Rs 700 to 800 at the end of a gruelling day – that is Rs 20,000 a month if they work 25 days each month, regardless of the weather, their health or the conditions they must bear to stay alive.The deliveries made by The Wire took almost an hour, so eight hours of work (the global standard for working hours) would earn roughly Rs 700-800, minus the cost of fuel for driving roughly 40 kilometres to complete just two deliveries. Remember that these earnings are before maintenance, depreciation, mobile data charges and unpaid waiting time.They are also exclusive of the significant hidden costs gig-workers pay: constant exposure to traffic fumes, dehydration and heat in Delhi’s stop-start traffic.BlinkIt’s store in Lajpat NagarOn Monday, May 25 – the same day that the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) issued warnings about severe heatwaves and petrol prices were hiked a fourth time – The Wire visited a BlinkIt outlet in Lajpat Nagar to join the gig economy.A few days earlier, before registering as a gig worker, The Wire had visited a different BlinkIt outlet, in Karol Bagh. The Lajpat Nagar store was different – it was smaller, and had fewer delivery riders. The store even had a cooler, and it was working. Drinking water was available but it was kept inside the store, not where the workers waited.The Wire completed two deliveries in the Lajpat Nagar area between 3 pm and 4 pm. The app showed an earning of Rs 35 for the two orders, plus a Rs 22 “joining incentive”. However, completing just two deliveries required remaining online for around 44 minutes. The heat exhaustion we felt was very real.A gig worker showing his earnings on the Zepto app after having worked for nearly seven hours during the heat wave.The Wire sent questions to Blinkit regarding the facilities, incentives and working conditions to delivery partners during the ongoing heatwave.In its response, Blinkit said several summer facilities had been arranged for delivery agents: dark stores had been equipped with pedestal fans, coolers, benches and water dispensers; more than 1.5 lakh glucose sachets were being distributed daily as well, and as many doctor consultations.Indeed there was drinking water and cooling arrangements at the Lajpat Nagar store. But not at the Blinkit outlet in Karol Bagh. It had no proper seating arrangement, and riders simply sat outdoors on their bikes while waiting for orders.Delivery partners waiting outside BlinkIt’s Karol Bagh outlet in Delhi.“The heat is extreme, and many riders fall sick because of it. We are not even given glucose on time, even though it is meant for us,” says Blinkit delivery partner Md Abrar. “Payments are also reduced during the summer. It becomes very difficult, but we still have to continue working,” he said.Abrar said incentives are higher during the night and lower during daytime hours, when the heat is at its peak. Night work, however, comes with its own set of challenges, as earlier explained.Mental, physical and financial stressMany delivery partners told The Wire they faced not just physical exhaustion but growing mental and financial stress. Riding continuously in extreme heat, carrying heavy weights to higher floors, falling earnings during the heatwave and rising fuel prices were unbearable burdens for these workers.“Continuously making deliveries in this heat is extremely difficult. On top of that, customers often ask us to climb to the fourth or fifth floors, sometimes with large orders containing far more items than usual. And if an item goes missing from the store, or a mistake occurs during the delivery, we are the ones who have to pay for it,” said Ankit Yadav, whom The Wire met at the Zepto unit in Kalkaji (Govindpuri).Many gig workers in Delhi are migrants from the less-well-off states – Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha or West Bengal. Some are students working part-time in the gig economy to make ends meet. Some work as delivery partners at night after finishing regular daytime jobs. Life is hard for them. Rising household expenses, children’s educational costs and inflation has forced many to take up delivery work.One worker we met at the Zepto outlet truly stands out – Raj Kumar Mondal, from West Bengal, who has a day job and delivers orders late into the night to support his family. Mondal is 54 years old – the retirement age for most journalists.Raj Kumar Mondal, a migrant worker from West Bengal in Delhi, works as a Zepto agent at night, after his regular job, to support his family.“Everything is expensive now. Daily expenses have risen a lot. I have children whose education expenses need to be managed, so I have to keep doing this work. Costs have risen so much we are just surviving, even after making adjustments. Petrol prices have risen, which is directly affecting our earnings,” said Mondal.It is difficult to picture him working in the heat, in the dark nights, delivering packages without a place to rest or water to cool his ageing body. But that is his reality – as for the 77 lakh others like him who are the backbone of the gig economy.