"Swiggy’s Policy Against Sexual Harassment of Women Delivery Partners Lacks Legal Backing", 1 December 2022

Swiggy made headlines for extending its sexual harassment to its women delivery partners. In a blog titled ‘Building a Safer Delivery Universe for Swiggy’s Women Executives’ dated November 16, the food ordering and delivery platform mentioned how it will extend its Policy on Sexual Harassment (‘POSH’) to cover harassment of women delivery partners by restaurant partners, customers, other delivery partners and Swiggy employees. The move has been hailed in light of the boom in the platform economy during the pandemic.

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Swiggy has definitely taken the right step by extending its anti-sexual harassment policy to women delivery partners. The policy covers various aspects such as on-ground assistance and raising awareness — a sore point in anti-sexual harassment policy implementation.

However, due to the lack of legal backing, Swiggy and other aggregators possibly lack the power to implement stronger policies, which furthers the need for a stronger and more inclusive law on sexual harassment.

While implementation of the policy is yet to be seen, the impact of extended policies is undeniable. Hopefully, more platform aggregators will follow suit until the limitations of the Act are removed through amendment(s).