Urban Company is eyeing profits and an IPO. But gigsters are angry
₹2,000? Do I have the products required? If the booking checked these four boxes, she’d accept it. Else, she would ignore it. “That was the only way to ensure that I made money on each booking," said the 43-year-old beautician, who requested not to be named for fear of being blacklisted by the company.
“Otherwise, most of it would go towards petrol, platform commissions and product costs." The beautician used to earn around ₹40,000 a month, which went towards her children’s school fees and household costs. But over the last six months, her monthly earnings have halved because of a sweeping algorithmic change. In the middle of 2023, Urban Company introduced a feature on its app called ‘auto acceptance’ where the algorithm assigns the day’s work to ‘partners’ without allowing them the option of accepting or rejecting bookings—they have to compulsorily complete the assigned tasks.
Simply put, the gig workers are now at the mercy of the company’s algorithm. The beautician couldn’t work on some days and ended up getting blocked a couple of times. Urban Company has been slowly rolling out the auto acceptance feature across different categories in various cities, including Hyderabad and Bengaluru.
As it eyes an initial public offering, the company has been looking for ways to show profitability in its books. While this has meant adding new revenue streams such as home painting and in-house branded products, and a greater focus on its entry into tier 2 cities, it has also meant holding the company’s roughly 45,000 workers to higher metrics, reducing flexibility and creating situations where they are forced to work. According to a business summary on the company’s website, its revenue from operations surged 45% in 2022-23 to ₹637
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