Meet Janani Rao, one of Swiggy's few women delivery partners in Hyderabad

When we first talk to Janani Rao over phone, the food delivery partner with Swiggy is riding to her destination and promises to return the call in 15 minutes. Janani’s estimate at making the delivery turns out to be quite accurate and we receive a call exactly 15 minutes later.

Janani has just started her day at work and has finished delivering her first order. For Janani, a typical working day begins at 11:00 am and ends by 3:30 in the afternoon. In between, she zips through the roads of Hyderabad on her bike, finishing at least 7-8 orders in a day.

Isn’t roaming around in the sun or the rains physically exhausting? “It definitely is,” pat comes Janani’s reply.

“The work is quite tiring. Especially during summer. Rains make things messy and it’s often a hassle to make the customers understand that their orders will be delayed because of the weather. But aren't such problems part of every other job?” the 21-year-old asks.

Janani finished her graduation in Psychology and Mass Communication this year and was freelancing as a writer until she took up the job of a delivery partner with Swiggy as one of the few women food delivery agents working in Hyderabad. She says the job is something out of the box and till now, her experience at delivering food has been quite pleasant.

“My parents are building a house and I was thinking of ways in which I could contribute. I knew there were other women food delivery executives in the city but wasn’t sure if Swiggy would recruit me. Once I approached them, however, the company turned out to be quite accommodating. It even has a special app with security features for women staff,” Janani shares.

In December last year, Swiggy had announced employing around 2,000 women across cities in India. Keeping in mind safety issues, the company also said that it would allow women to complete deliveries by 6 pm and will have a dedicated helpline to address concerns.

Despite food delivery platforms allowing women to enter this male bastion and claiming to recruit women as food delivery partners in metropolitan cities, they're still a rare breed. Janani says that most times, customers are amused and happy on seeing a woman delivering their food.

“Some of them double check with the customer care if a woman is actually delivering the food while a few ask strange questions like why I need to be a food delivery agent despite being educated! I tell them even educated people can do the job and that I am not doing the job out of compulsion,” Janani says.

Having been a delivery executive with the app for the past two months now, Janani says that the job rarely gives time for oneself, including not being able to have food at proper time. She delivers food in and around Banjara Hills and Somajiguda, but if need be, also drives till Gachibowli for deliveries.

“There is an incentive of Rs 350 once we finish delivering orders worth Rs 1,100. Most of the executives are in a race to deliver the maximum orders in the least time possible. Also, you cannot decline orders assigned, even if that means orders that are beyond your usual areas of work.  I have my lunch at 3:30 pm most of the days, once I finish my deliveries for the day,” says Janani.

Also difficult are the obscure locations from where food is to be picked up and as the young woman puts it, wrong delivery addresses are also common.

“Just two days back, I reached the location and called the customer who said I was at a different address. In such situations, a delivery executive has no choice. Since the food is packed and needs to be delivered, we travel all the way back to the actual address to make the delivery,” she says, adding, “Customers may get pissed and may even rate you badly, but being a delivery agent, we don’t have many options. I never ask my customers to rate me a five-star. I don’t think that’s how merit is earned for any kind of job.”

Though Janani says that she hasn’t faced sexual harassment on her job, she notes that sometimes, people attempt to prolong conversations in the pretext of getting to know a woman delivery agent better. However, the 21-year-old says she has never been scared of visiting strange places or houses.

“Fortunately, customers and hotel staff have always been very helpful and Swiggy too provides us with a pepper spray which I carry around wherever I go,” Janani adds.

Janani is not the only woman food delivery agent around but she says that she's barely come across any other woman doing the same job in Hyderabad.

“It’s not easy for women with families to sustain in the job. Being a food delivery partner is frowned upon and often families restrict women from going house to house, sometimes even at odd hours. Safety is also a concern. But I have been fortunate to have parents who are supportive and my work timings are also flexible, which allows me to return home by noon,” Janani says.

The 21-year-old also has an ardent interest in poetry and says that she will soon be chalking out plans to start her postgraduate degree.

“The job has treated me well. But that doesn’t deny the fact that the work can be quite taxing for people who are from weaker economic sections or are in dire need of money. But if you are someone who is ready to work with dedication, being a food delivery partner pays you almost as much as an IT company does for beginners,” Janani adds.