🌈 I have been closely following the High-speed, app-driven last-mile delivery in India and the UAE/GCC, which has created a powerful convenience ecosystem, but on fragile unit economics and the backs of millions of gig workers who often act as the system’s invisible shock absorbers.
🌈 In India, deep discounting, low order values, and years of “cheap or free” delivery have trained customers to expect instant gratification while leaving platforms with thin margins and limited pricing power, even as they face rising fuel, compliance, and labour costs and a newly formalised but still-evolving social security regime.
🌈 In the UAE and GCC, similar on-demand expectations are layered over much better regulated employment structures, statutory protections, and higher infrastructure standards, yet complex subcontracting chains can blur accountability just as ESG scrutiny on treatment of outsourced workforces intensifies.
🌈 Across both regions, the same issues surface: recurring worker unrest, safety risks from time pressure, and growing legal and reputational exposure for brands whose promise of speed depends on riders who remain economically and emotionally precarious. There is no doubt that the UAE does a much better job in this specific area.
🌈 For customers, the central learning is that convenience is never free. Either the worker, the investor, or society ultimately pays, and responsible consumption means accepting fair pricing, more transparent service tiers, and recognising tipping and realistic expectations as part of a sustainable model.
🌈 For boards and senior leaders in India and the GCC, the message is that last mile is now a strategic governance and ESG issue, not a logistical detail. Boards must question the true sustainability of their unit economics, extend duty of care to gig and outsourced workers, demand visibility into algorithms and incentives, and actively shape regulatory, investor, and consumer narratives towards “responsible convenience” that aligns profit, people, and policy over the next 2–3 years.
🌈 As one might frame it for this new delivery era: “In the race for instant convenience, true leadership is the courage to slow down enough to make sure no one is left behind on the last mile.” 😊
