On-demand delivery platform Swiggy on Monday launched a special care package under its 'Swiggy Suraksha' initiative for its delivery partners affected with COVID-19, which includes a support of Rs 14,000 for two weeks, so that they do not have to worry about earning a livelihood during the recovery period. If partners choose to, Swiggy will also provide doorstep delivery of homestyle meals prepared in the company's cloud kitchens, in cities such as Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai.
The delivery partners and their families who test positive will receive enhanced hospitalisation cover of up to Rs 1.5 lakh, the company said in a statement. In addition, Swiggy has also enhanced life insurance cover to Rs 5 lakh in the event of an untimely death of a delivery partner due to COVID-19.
"With Swiggy Suraksha, we are making sure that our delivery heroes also have the necessary support -- including a 24X7 hotline for medical emergencies, access to doctors for themselves and their families, income support, free access to vaccines, hospitalisation cover for themselves and their families if affected by Covid," said Vivek Sunder, COO, Swiggy, in a statement.
Separately, Swiggy will provide income support for one week for delivery partners during bereavement (death of dependents/ parents/ siblings/ grandparents). This is not limited to COVID-19 related bereavement, the company said.
The company has built a microsite named 'Swiggy Suraksha', within the Swiggy delivery partner app. Through this, it aims to ensure delivery partners have access to and understand the support that the Swiggy is providing.
Throughout the pandemic, Swiggy has introduced a number of initiatives, which included in-app access to free telemedicine consultations, vaccination cover and loss of pay cover during vaccination, among others.