Plea before Madras High Court says uniform worn by delivery partners of fast commerce platforms misused by criminals, seeks guidelines

Justice P Velmurugan issued a notice to the DGP regarding a petition filed by Nithyanantham and adjourned the matter for 4 weeks.

In his plea, Nithyanantham argued that even if the delivery partners of Swiggy, Zomato, Dunzo, Zepto, etc. were expected to wear the company uniform, more often than not, they did not carry any ID card showing their name and other details. It was also claimed that in some cases delivery drivers arrived without uniforms or wore helmets, making it difficult to identify the delivery person’s face.

Highlighting recent trends in crimes committed by people posing as delivery workers, he argued that in many cases, people wearing delivery uniforms would go unnoticed because people would assume they were waiting for delivery. Thus, he pointed out that this could be reduced by formulating guidelines for delivery partners. In the absence of regulation, he argued it was possible for people to use delivery uniforms and be involved in crimes.

He added that although a representation has been submitted to the DGP to look into the matter and formulate appropriate guidelines, no action has been taken so far, which would be highly arbitrary, unfair and discriminatory in nature. He therefore approached the High Court for appropriate directions.

Case Title: LN Nithyanantham v Director General of Police

Case No: WP 1820 of 2025