5 Challenges Faced By Delivery Boys in Cities Across India

5 Challenges Faced

By Delivery Boys in Cities Across India

Life, as we know it, has become increasingly convenient with the emergence of online retail and e-commerce. The success of an online player today mainly boils down to their last-mile delivery partners, more famously known as delivery boys.

With bags strapped to their backs, they zip across neighbourhoods in their two-wheelers from one point to another delivering and picking up packages. Delivery boy jobs in India are extremely popular, especially amongst the youth.

Most credit the ease of landing and exiting a delivery boy job(which requires minimal educational qualification and training), the flexible work schedule it offers, and the unrestricted earning potential as the main attractions which make them hard to resist.

While the above can be classified as benefits or the pros of delivery boy jobs which are known to many, there are certain downsides about which many don’t know or aren’t discussed in the open. This short blog touches on a handful of the cons of a delivery boy job in India.

Safety Concerns

Delivery partners often complain that their safety is always at risk, especially at night. The risk doesn’t only emerge from accidents on the road, but also from customers.

Unfortunately, there have been many instances where delivery boys have been robbed and beaten. Most of such cases occur in the dark of the night, with delivery boys who deliver food.

Apparently, fraudsters and goons place orders from far away locations late at night. Some of them don’t show up whereas others don’t pay.

Health Challenges

Most e-commerce companies that hire delivery boys in India provide health and accident insurance. That said, most delivery boys say that relentless work to meet targets, physical strain, and travel in bad weather and pollution, all the while carrying heavy loads give rise to several health issues.

The more serious implication of being a delivery boy is to leave home and make deliveries during Covid. You have to note that going door to door during times like Covid is not only a threat to the health of the delivery boys, but also to their families.

Locating Pickup and Drop Addresses

Delivery boys in India have to work hard to earn their incentives.

Their incentive scheme is based on a number of factors. For instance, they are entitled to incentives if they meet their daily quota within a predetermined timeframe.

Although a delivery executive may be an expert navigator, problems arise when the pickup or delivery addresses aren’t correct. Even with maps and GPS, some delivery boys find it hard to locate customers.

This is a problem because the delivery executive may have to spend extra minutes to locate the customer which naturally means less time for him to meet the minimum quota for incentives.

Uncooperative customers Everybody isn’t unruly, but those that are can be difficult to reason with. This can not only be mentally draining for a delivery executive but also a financial liability. For example, an uncooperative customer might escalate the issue of a food delivery that is late by just a few minutes.

The reasons behind the delay could be legitimate and beyond the control of a delivery executive, like a traffic stop or bad weather. The escalation could spell disaster for the delivery executive at it might not be counted as a part of the daily quota, or worse, he might actually have to pay for the meal out of his own pockets.

Irregular Pay People who have worked as delivery boys before often cite irregular and low pay as the number one reason why they quit. That said, some delivery partners stick around for years because the job helps them earn a good income every month.

Why is the group divided? There could be many reasons. One could be the incentive scheme which is based on quotas. Incentives, if you didn’t know already, forms a major part of delivery executives’ incomes. You complete the daily quota, you’re up for the incentive.

That’s the deal.

But that’s easier said than done. A delivery boy might miss out on the incentive due to reasons such as traffic, bad weather, wrong address, uncooperative customer, distant pick-up or deliveries etc. which might prevent him from completing the quota. Naturally, their income will falter.

Unprecedented situations like Covid is another stumbling block.

With no customers around, little to no orders, restrictions etc., delivery boys have to work extra hard to complete deliveries.

Job security is another negative of a delivery boy job. Delivery executives are employed on short-term contracts. Once it’s done, you may or may not be rehired. If not, you have to move on.

Situations like the pandemic aren’t good either. Many delivery boys in India we let go as businesses suffered.

But it’s not all bad. Delivery boys do get plenty of opportunities in other companies. Almost everyone picks up life skills and some go on to become trainers. Is this job for you? Well, that’s something you have to decide after weighing the pros and cons.