Swiggy establishes COVID-19 relief fund for its delivery partners and their families

Swiggy announced that it has set up a relief fund called 'Swiggy Hunger Savior Covid Relief fund', which will be used towards ensuring the safety and welfare of its delivery partners and their families. The corpus for the fund will be created by Swiggy with primary contributions from the founders, senior leaders, employees and investors, as well as donations from customers and well-wishers.

Sriharsha Majety, Co-founder and CEO, Swiggy, has committed 50 percent of his annual salary towards this fund. Swiggy aims to raise Rs 10 crore for this fund and has already raised over Rs 4 crore through initial contributions from Swiggy's founders and employees.

Through the fund, delivery partners are now covered with Income-Protection Insurance, where up to 14 days of income is insured if tested positive with COVID-19. Also the family members and delivery partners currently not covered by existing medical insurance will also be covered by the fund towards medical or any hospitalisation expenses related to COVID-19.

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Swiggy has also committed all its revenues from March 22, when Janata Curfew was imposed, towards this purpose. The fund will also be used to provide sustenance support through food and grocery care packages to the partners and their families who are facing hardships.

Sriharsha said in a press release shared by the company “Our industry is built on the efforts of our delivery partners. It is in times like these, that we come together to appreciate and support those who are putting their lives at risk to serve others. To assist our delivery heroes during these testing times, we have initiated this special fund which will be supported by Swiggy and our investors. I am overwhelmed by this collective initiative to support one another while also doing what we do best, which is serving customers."

While all the delivery players have remained operational during the lockdown, several including Swiggy, Dunzo, Zomato, and Bigbasket have set aside funds and formulated insurance plans to help support their delivery partners.

Apart from this Ola, the Bengaluru-based ride-hailing unicorn, has also created a crowd-funded Driver Relief Fund.

(Edited by Kanishk Singh)