The final preparations for the G20 Summit 2023 and the visit of global leaders and dignitaries are under way in New Delhi. With a heavy security blanket across Delhi NCR, news reports of the impact on food and grocery deliveries across the national capital region are doing the rounds, especially with regards to how the delivery workers of the areas will earn their livelihood. To address these concerns, food and grocery delivery platforms have now come out to say that they too are prepared to handle the pressures of the G20 Summit weekend with minimal disruptions.
Online food and grocery delivery platforms like Zepto, Swiggy and Zomato have revealed that they are not only prepared for minimal to no disruption in their services, but also expect service demands to rise during the G20 Summit weekend. This is because a lot of their product categories still remain untouched by the security and mobility restrictions that have now been implemented across Delhi NCR.
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Spokespersons from Zepto, for example, have said in interviews that with most people working remotely and unable to freely travel across Delhi NCR, they expect “a significant surge in demand, with a 30-40% rise in New Delhi and over 10% in other NCR cities compared to normal days.” To address this expected surge, Zepto has not only increased their inventory of products available across Delhi NCR but also “secured necessary approvals for daily replenishable items like dairy and vegetables.”
Apart from increasing their inventories and getting delivery and function permissions from the authorities, online food and grocery platforms are also focusing on delivery rider safety. Some platforms have blocked the restricted Delhi NCR routes in their driver navigation systems and relocated drivers from high-impact zones to other areas for the weekend. These steps might ensure minimal negative impact on the livelihoods of delivery workers too.
Further, to meet the delivery drivers’ on-the-ground concerns, control towers have also been set up. Zomato spokespersons have also revealed that apart from a small zone of the NDMC area in Delhi NCR, they will be fully operational everywhere else, including Gurugram, Noida, Faridabad and Ghaziabad throughout the G20 Summit weekend. The Lt Governor of Delhi, VK Saxena, has been taking full stock of all security and beautification preparations in Delhi NCR and has revealed that a state-of-the-art Control Room with over 5,000 live CCTV cameras has been set up to ensure the safety of both visitors and citizens.