Lower thirds:

00:02 Report by / Manira Chaudhary
01:08 Manira Chaudhary / DW Reporter
02:38 Namita Prakash / Shopper
03:01 Santosh Mehrotra / Economist

Script:

From morning to night, Raj is on the road, in a race against time. A phone buzz, an order, and a race against time. In India's quick commerce economy, speed is everything. 

((close shot of key being put into the bike's ignition. A man putting on a helmet. His foot, in slippers, kicking the bike into action)) 

Raj is not his real name. He asked us not to reveal his identity. He is 24, married with two kids, one of them in need of surgery. One of thousands of delivery riders across India, and like many we spoke to, not happy with what and how he earns.

((Shots of Raj driving, from different angles. Through busy roads. He is wearing a dark tinted helmet))  

00:31
+++ SOT: Raj (name changed), Quick commerce delivery rider (in Hindi): +++
"We don't get more than Rs 30-35, roughly 38 Euro cents, for every order that we deliver. On top of that, if a customer misbehaves with us, we are told never to say anything to them. If they make a false complaint about not getting the order delivered, the amount is deducted from our earnings." 

00:48
Quick commerce is now a $7.1 billion industry in India, projected to grow forty percent annually until 2030. It runs on riders like Raj, and on a promise that once defined it not long back: everything delivered in 10 minutes.

((shots of riders sitting outside a dark store, coming out with orders, an order bag on a bike which says "everything delivered in 10 minutes")) 

+++ PTC: Manira Chaudhary +++
"Concerned about safety, many delivery riders went on strike on New Year's Eve. The government then asked the quick commerce companies to stop advertising the 10-minute delivery guarantee. Since then, that promise has largely disappeared from the packaging and marketing material. But not entirely. 

((PTC shot with the background of a parking area where delivery riders can be seen. I show a white bag on screen which says 10 minutes)) 

The pressure is still there. It's now built into incentives that riders say are nearly impossible to hit. 

((Raj showing the incentives screen on his app)) 

01:39
+++ SOT: Raj (name changed), Quick commerce delivery rider (in Hindi): +++
"The riders don't ride fast because they are happy. They get incentives for their orders. That's why they drive fast. The more we order, the more income we get. The company doesn't give us a monthly salary." 

01:54
Many pay a price for it. Raj has already had two accidents on the job. 

((Close up of Raj's injuries, one below his eye and one on his arm)) 

02:00
Sanjay, not his real name, has signed up with all three major quick commerce platforms. Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart and Zepto. 

((back shot of Sanjay talking on phone, leaning against his scooty, close ups of his phone, his hand)) 

02:10
+++ SOT: Sanjay (name changed), Quick Commerce Delivery Rider (in Hindi): +++
"I ride for 17-18 hours a day delivering orders to earn incentives. I stop just for 10 minutes to eat." 

02:18
On the other side of this story, consumer behaviour has shifted, perhaps permanently. Quick commerce platforms now process over 10 million orders a day in India, growing faster than any other retail channel. Convenience has become a habit. 

((Sanjay kicking start his scooty and going away. Cut to a woman sitting on her couch, placing an order on her app)) 

02:36
Namita is an avid online shopper. 

02:37
+++ SOT: Namita Prakash, Shopper: +++
"Earlier we had to plan to go get our groceries. But now with quick commerce things have become very very convenient. You just sit at home and order. Yes I do land up ordering unnecessary things and spending much more than required." 

02:53
The consumer is happy. The industry is booming. But economist Santosh Mehrotra says the foundations are shakier than they look. 

((Namita opens the door, takes an order and shuts it)) 

03:01
+++ SOT: Santosh Mehrotra, Economist: +++
"These are jobs literally at the bottom of the services pyramid. Working 16, 17 hours a day. There's going to be very rapid burnout and there'll be a huge turnover. They are essentially slaves in a delivery model. None of us as consumers think about all these things too much. And that, I think, is the foundation of a deeply dis-equalising capitalism that is emerging." 

03:18
Every order placed adds to an industry that is only getting bigger. For the consumers it has won over, there is no going back. For riders like Raj, the only question is whether a booming industry will ever make room for the people holding it up. 

END