Delhi has a new gig economy play. Bag carriers for hire. Think Uber, but for your shopping.
It sounds trivial. It might not be.
Let’s look at the politics. The Delhi government is piloting this. They call it ‘Saman Vahak’. Registered porters. App-based. Fixed rates. A nod to the unorganised worker.
Why now? Two reasons. First, the optics. Delhi’s streets are clogged with hawkers and porters. Unregulated. Often exploited. This scheme brings them into the fold. A welfare move. A vote catcher.
Second, the data. The government gets a database of workers. Their movements. Their earnings. That is power. Real time surveillance of the labour market.
Will it work? The early signs are mixed. The app launched with 500 registered carriers. That’s a drop in the ocean. Delhi has thousands of informal porters. Most are wary. They fear registration means taxes. They fear the government will track them.
There’s a deeper problem. Trust. The informal economy runs on cash and word of mouth. This scheme forces digital payments. That’s a bridge too far for many.
The government insists it’s voluntary. But the messaging is weak. The launch was low key. No big press conference. No celebrity endorsements. That’s a mistake.
What about demand? Will people pay for bag carrying? In a city where labour is cheap, maybe. Tourists might use it. Busy shoppers. But locals? They haggle with auto drivers. They carry their own bags. The cost? 50 rupees for the first 2 km. That’s not much. But it’s a new habit.
The opposition smells blood. The BJP is calling it a ‘gimmick’. ‘Another app that will fail,’ they say. They point to previous Delhi app based schemes. The ‘Mohalla Bus’ didn’t catch on. The ‘EV taxi’ rollout stalled. This feels like more of the same.
But the ruling AAP is betting on scale. They plan to onboard 10,000 carriers within six months. That’s ambitious. It requires marketing. It requires subsidies. It requires the government to crack down on unregistered porters. That’s a fight they might not want.
The real test is political. If the scheme works, it’s a feather in Kejriwal’s cap. A model for other states. If it fails, it’s another broken promise. The stakes are high. Delhi elections are due in 2025. Every pilot matters.
Inside the Lobby, the chatter is cautious. ‘It could be a sleeper hit,’ one source told me. ‘Or a complete dud.’ The Lobby is split. Some see it as a clever expansion of the welfare state. Others see an overreach. ‘Do we really need the government to carry our bags?’ a senior official muttered.
Bag carriers are a small thing. But in politics, small things can tip the balance. Watch this space.
