Swiggy sets up policy to prevent sexual harassment of women delivery partners

Online food delivery app Swiggy has come out with a policy to prevent sexual harassment of its women delivery partners.

The company said the Swiggy-specific Policy on Sexual Harassment Redressal is in line with the laws for Prevention of Sexual Harassment (POSH).

In case of a sexual harassment case arising due to customers, male counterparts, restaurant partners, and Swiggy employees, the woman delivery executive can reach out to Swiggy’s Emergency SOS number for support, the company said. Should the partner wishes for a probe, a complaint can be lodged with the company's on-ground team.

If the perpetrator is a Swiggy employee, it becomes a POSH case.

“There is no place for sexual harassment or gender-based misconduct in Swiggy’s delivery universe. Through the sexual harassment redressal policy, we are taking a proactive step in building awareness and accountability among various stakeholders in the community," Mihir Shah, Head of Operations, Swiggy said.

Our goal is to empower women to feel safe on Swiggy’s delivery platform, Shah said.

"We are also working on a solution to ensure that if the harassment occurs at a customer’s location, after the initial investigation is done, no other female delivery executive with Swiggy is ever assigned to that customer. The number will be highlighted so that a female executive is not assigned even if the customer changes location. Grievous offenses punishable by law will lead to the removal of customers from the Swiggy platform," the company said in a statement.

At any point, the woman delivery executive can raise a police complaint against the respondent.

The company said it also plans to create awareness among women delivery partners about sexual harassment.

The company has been regularly communicating with women employees for the past 45 days on what is defined as sexual harassment, the sexual harassment redressal policy of the company, and how to raise and register a complaint in case of an incident.

Male delivery executives have been receiving communication about sexual harassment and the redressal policy, the company said adding that Swiggy is also seeking support from the customers on the issue.