Food delivery companies like Swiggy, Zomato, and magicpin have expressed that the orders received on New Year’s Eve were the highest in the history of their businesses. At a time when some gig workers were on strike, it was the end-consumers who ended up relying on food delivery and dining-out apps of these companies. Orders amounting to millions were placed and delivered throughout the major cities of India especially during the peak festival season.
They also said that during the strike time food and beverage market was completely dependent on delivery platforms, and hence they had a fantastic experience with holiday season orders at the end of the year. They firmly appreciated their foot partners, law enforcement and near to God execution of unused holiday plans as the attributes that made the night a success. The fact that at the end of the year the Indian people more and more count on deliveries through apps has really reached its peak.
Breaking the food delivery records
An X post said the company’s co-founder who is a well-known pictured guy was confident that even though there were strike calls both Zomato and Blinkit delivered possibly at the fastest speed till then. He applauded the police for their zero tolerance stance against a handful of troublemakers, which he thought made it possible to have a continuous flow of services in the main markets that they were operating in.
Goyal mentioned that the delivery partners of the two platforms has completed more than 4.5 lakh deliveries, totaling over 75 lakh orders, for 63 lakh customers during the day. He expressed his gratitude to delivery partners who came in spite of threats and magnified their importance in preserving the service quality of large sizes.
Magicpin stated that every hour there were hundreds of thousands of orders placed in the major cities. Anshoo Sharma, Founder and CEO, said that the strike had no effect on the company and that the New Year’s Eve event reassured people that food delivery was a necessary part of the urban lifestyle.
Strike call and limited operational impact
According to the Gig & Platform Service Workers Union, there were more than 1 lakh strikers from 22 cities, 14,000 of them were in large metros such as Delhi and Mumbai. Their main cause was to get better pay for their work and to get better working conditions for the delivery partners.
Nevertheless, the figures support the claim of a wider situation. India has over 12.7 million gig workers, with NITI Aayog predicting the gig workforce to grow to 23.5 million by 2029-30. Platforms mentioned that there were enough partner riders to address the demand spikes problem.
He appealed to the general public not to be deceived by the powerful narratives told by those with ulterior motives. He contended that if the system had been truly unjust, it would not have drawn and retained the very people who opted to work within it. He portrayed the gig economy as a big job creator.
By 8:30 in the evening, Swiggy had already seen off more than 218k pizzas and burgers claimed to have been over 216k orders. It says a lot about the demand for fast-food during the festivities and the evening peaks being organized by the quick-service categories.
Online companies are imposing harsh and retaliatory measures against workers and union members for participating in the strike. If even basic safety and security had been ensured, the strike would never have been necessary.#gigworkers#deliveryworkers#workerssafetypic.twitter.com/IsvCsVCnyT
— GIPSWU – Gig & Platform Service Workers Union (@GIPSWU_) January 1, 2026
In terms of popularity, pizza was the most favorite on magicpin. Desserts also saw an increase. Orders from gajar ka halwa and ice cream were three times more this year than the previous year, which implies a strict finish with the sweet-savored celebratory meals. Dinner orders reached their peak at around 9:30 pm.
Butter chicken was the most popular main course in Delhi-NCR on magicpin, and then it was biryani and dal makhni. The food chart reveals that North Indian traditional dishes still top the list and the rest of the world’s cuisines are nothing but good competitors.
On the other hand, people eating at restaurants got a lot of attention too. Swiggy Dineout bookings joined by the Bengaluru and Hyderabad duo. Ahmedabad came up with a booking increase of 1.6x, and the cities of Lucknow and Jaipur followed by an increase of 1.3x and 1.2x respectively, hence the notion that people have been looking forward to NYE experiences a lot and the same with the restaurants rise in demand was noticed.
Outlook for India’s gig economy
The NITI Aayog’s forecast on the gig workforce’s expansion is expected to sharpen the policy discussions which will be related to the social security, minimum wage, and data transparency issues. The introduction of the state-level frameworks as well as the access to the benefits offered by platforms can be considered as the factors that may have a more balanced ecosystem.
Regarding the customers, the surge that took place on the New Year’s Eve testifies to a strong change in behavior. It is not just the surge in the number of Swiggy orders on New Year’s Eve, but also the all-time high in Zomato order numbers, and the increase in magicpin’s order that all together indicate a market where convenience, variety, and timely service are the top considerations.
The bottom line is the same. The festive season demand in India is now met by the food delivery apps and the dining-out platforms. To keep up the good work, the companies must focus on things like operational excellence so to avoid being disruptive, and at the same time they should care and make real progress in the welfare and well-being of workers, in other words, making growth not only scalable but also fair and just.
