An Indian food delivery driver frustrated by long queues for petrol has resorted to horsepower to make his deliveries.
A video clip shows the man trotting through the busy streets of Hyderabad in southern India on a bay horse with the distinctive red bag of the food delivery app Zomato (the Indian equivalent of Deliveroo) dangling behind his back.
There were long queues at petrol pumps in the city and traffic jams on Tuesday after a brief truckers’ strike caused a fuel shortage.
A Zomato delivery man went for the delivery on horse as he couldn’t get the fuel for his vehicle. 😀
pic.twitter.com/F7yss76ATv — Shantanu (@shaandelhite) January 3, 2024
The truck drivers were protesting against a proposed law that would impose heavy fines and 10-year jail sentences in hit-and-run incidents. They called off the strike after the government said it would consult the drivers before going ahead.
As the Zomato rider waved to surprised onlookers, he explained his choice of transport. In one of the video clips posted of his journey to social media he says: “There was no petrol for my motorbike. I waited in the queue for three hours. I left after taking the order but couldn’t get the petrol.”
Food delivery agents can often be seen zipping through clogged cities in India, weaving through the traffic in their rush to deliver on time.
Amid intense competition, some food app companies have offered 10-minute deliveries. They have attracted criticism for endangering the drivers’ lives by putting them under pressure despite knowing the chaos and gridlock of Indian roads.
The companies say the delivery agents are not under pressure as they are not told about the 10-minute deadline. Zomato in particular has specified that its employees are neither rewarded for on-time deliveries nor punished for late deliveries.
Zomato says it also plans to put a phone number on the delivery bags so people can report someone speeding or driving recklessly.