“No matter if it is hot or raining, we have to work," says 30-year-old Rakesh Sahu (name changed), from Uttar Pradesh’s Jaunpur, who works as a delivery agent for Swiggy in Delhi. When IndiaSpend met him in early April in Saket, he had a cloth wrapped around his head, and a cap on to protect from Delhi’s intense heat.

India had 7.7 million gig workers in 2020-21, a number projected to reach 23 million by 2029-30. Working 12 hours a day in the heat, with little or no provision for shade, drinking water and toilets, takes a toll on millions of India’s gig and platform workers. Lack of social security, paid leave or income protections means the workers cannot afford to take time off of work to rest and recuperate.

“When we climb three to five floors in apartment complexes, we get dizzy. In many buildings, they do not even allow us to use the elevator,” says Ankit Soni from Bihar’s Siwan district, who has been working with Swiggy for three years. IndiaSpend met 22-year-old Soni at Khadak Singh Da Dhaba in Malviya Nagar when he was collecting an order for delivery. “When the loo [hot, dry summer wind] blows, the conditions become even worse. Staying in the sun too long leads to nosebleeds and fevers,” he says, drenched in sweat.

But the workers are at the mercy of algorithms they don’t fully understand, where even a short break leads to lost incomes. “If the target isn't met, we don't get the incentive. And without the incentive, we cannot even afford a full meal. What would I do in Delhi then?”

Platforms incentivise workers to stay online throughout the day, particularly during the peak afternoons and evenings, and accept all orders that come their way. The daily incentive they are paid is what keeps them afloat.

Radheshyam Kumar (name changed), a 29-year-old Swiggy delivery agent resting in the shade of a tree, says that during intense heat, their phones often overheat and shut down. “We have to search for spots like this to escape the sun and rest.”

Access to water is difficult. “At the very least, drinking water should be free and accessible,” he says. Without that, workers have to choose between spending money to buy water, or delay drinking water and suffer dehydration. “At the restaurants where we pick up orders, if we ask for water, they sometimes offer the dirty water used for washing dishes. After that, we don't have the courage to ask again.”

Radheshyam Kumar says provisions for shade and drinking water should be provided at the very least. (Image courtesy Shivam Bhardwaj)

Summer temperatures are rising across many parts of the country, and the India Meteorological Department (IMD) predicts above-normal heatwave days between April and June 2026, along with higher minimum temperatures—a phenomenon called hot nights. In Delhi, the government has initiated steps such as stocking medicines and supplies, setting up cool rooms in several hospitals.

Nights give the human body a chance to cool down. But when nights get warmer, as IndiaSpend explained in May 2023, it leads to increased heat stress on the body.........

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