Food delivery executives back on road

‘With less traffic, I am making more deliveries now’

Food delivery executives are back zipping on the road unimpeded in Hyderabad three days after police stopped, penalised them and seized the vehicles of hundreds across the city. “If we wear the Swiggy or Zomato T-shirt we are not being stopped. It was a one-day scare,” said Mohammed Alam, who was waiting to pick up his order from a restaurant in Jyothi Nagar area. “I am getting 25-30 orders per day which was the norm before the lockdown,” said Mr. Alam who does deliveries in the western part of the city in Tolichowki and Manikonda areas. Other delivery executives, including the ones from e-commerce firms, shared similar experiences of being allowed to move unimpeded through the city. “In fact, I am making more deliveries now than earlier. This is better than pre-lockdown days as there is hardly any traffic when we are moving around,” said Sandeep Reddy, while making a delivery in Attapur area. Are there any new written orders after Monday so that these delivery executives are allowed to move freely? “No. We just had an internal communication from the CP (Commissioner of Police). We are following those orders,” said a police official manning the check-point near the Mehdipatnam Rythu Bazaar. It was at the same location on Monday, when almost all e-commerce delivery personnel on two-wheelers were stopped, and let go after 5 p.m. The delivery executives as well as app-based firms and restaurants were caught unawares on Monday as the Government Order imposing the lockdown explicitly allowed movement of delivery executives. On Thursday, knots of delivery executives could be spotted at different road junctions waiting for orders.