Scammed, scolded, shamed: The stories gig workers can’t tell you

Long shifts, meagre pay, arbitrary rules — even having to buy their own kits and raincoats during the monsoon — gig work platforms are often called out for their failures. But there’s another layer of exploitation that’s seldom talked about.

Through impatience, privilege, and sometimes plain deceit, some customers are quietly chipping away at gig workers’ earnings and self-esteem.
Six months ago, Mehtab Irfan, a 41-year-old delivery executive with a food delivery app, was delivering Chinese food to a Delhi-based customer. The customer had opted for cash on delivery and ‘paid’ via QR code. But as Irfan made his way downstairs, he got a ‘payment failed’ notification.

Confused, he called the customer, who insisted he had already paid and flatly refused to check further. Irfan reported the problem to his company’s support team, which cancelled the order and gave the customer a full refund.