Delhi-based startup CarryMen, which has gained viral attention for offering shoppers assistants to carry bags through crowded markets, has pushed back against online criticism calling the model exploitative. According to reports from NDTV Profit, the company's founder Dr. Ritu Kandari defended the model, arguing that the startup is solving a genuine urban convenience problem while creating structured employment opportunities. The company operates out of Delhi's Lajpat Nagar market, allowing customers to hire workers by the hour to carry shopping bags, help navigate crowded lanes and wait in queues. However, the service has triggered intense debate online, with critics comparing the service to 'modern slavery' and questioning the optics of young workers carrying large shopping loads behind customers.
As reported by NDTV Profit, CarryMen has rejected comparisons with informal labour models, arguing that CarryMen workers are formally employed by the company and receive fixed compensation structures instead of app-based gig payouts. The company emphasizes that its workers are full-time employees on fixed salaries rather than gig workers, addressing concerns about worker protections and sustainability of platform-led employment models. The service is especially useful for elderly shoppers, tourists and families navigating crowded markets such as Lajpat Nagar. Kandari also rejected comparisons with informal labour models, arguing that CarryMen workers are formally employed by the company and receive fixed compensation structures instead of app-based gig payouts.
According to NDTV Profit, the startup's emergence comes amid a broader expansion of India's gig and hyperlocal services economy, where startups are increasingly building businesses around urban convenience and on-demand services. The company has strong customer demand since launch and expansion plans are already being evaluated for other crowded retail hubs such as Chandni Chowk by July. However, the business model has reignited questions around how far startups can commercialise convenience services in urban India before ethical concerns begin to outweigh novelty. For now, CarryMen remains a small operation in one Delhi market, but its rapid viral rise has already turned it into a flashpoint in the wider debate around gig work, labour optics and the future of hyperlocal startup models in India.
As reported by NDTV Profit, the sector continues to face scrutiny around worker protections, low wages and sustainability of platform-led employment models. The company's viral rise has already turned it into a flashpoint in the wider debate around gig work, labour optics and the future of hyperlocal startup models in India. The startup remains a small operation in one Delhi market, but its rapid viral rise has highlighted the ongoing tensions between convenience services and ethical employment practices in India's evolving gig economy. The debate reflects broader questions about the commercialisation of urban convenience services and their impact on traditional employment structures.
