Zomato NPS Milestone Overview
Zomato, India’s leading online food ordering and delivery platform, issued a press release on 18 August 2026 announcing that the National Pension System (NPS) corpus accumulated by delivery partners enrolled through its ‘NPS Platform Workers Model’ has crossed the ₹1 crore threshold. The same release noted that more than 2 lakh Permanent Retirement Account Numbers (PRANs) have been generated for delivery partners since the model’s launch in October 2025.
Model Structure and Partnerships
The NPS Platform Workers Model is a collaborative effort between Zomato, HDFC Pension – described as India’s largest corporate NPS Point of Presence and private‑sector pension fund manager – and the Pension Fund Regulatory & Development Authority (PFRDA). The model is enabled by Kfintech, the Central Recordkeeping Agency for NPS. Under the scheme, delivery partners can enrol using their existing KYC/eKYC, consent to PRAN generation, and subsequently provide additional details. Contributions are made by the partners themselves in small, regular amounts, and the benefits remain portable as partners move across different gig engagements.
Quantitative Highlights
- Total NPS contributions from enrolled delivery partners: > ₹1 crore.
- Number of delivery partners enrolled: over 200,000.
- PRANs issued: more than 2 lakh.
- Average monthly active delivery partners (Q1 FY27): ≈ 638,000.
Additional Delivery Partner Benefits
Zomato continues to provide a suite of non‑financial benefits at no cost, including:
- Health insurance covering IPD/hospitalisation, daycare treatment up to ₹1 lakh, OPD expenses up to ₹5,000, ICU costs, maternity insurance for female partners, and tele‑consultations.
- Personal accident cover of up to ₹10 lakh.
- 24 × 7 SOS support in 850+ cities, linking partners to ambulances, police assistance, and a dedicated response team.
- Real‑time earnings visibility through the delivery partner app, showing order income, incentives and tips on daily, weekly and monthly bases.
Executive Comments
Aditya Mangla, CEO of Zomato, stated that the crossing of the ₹1 crore contribution mark demonstrates the effectiveness of small, regular contributions by delivery partners and underscores Zomato’s commitment to supporting partners beyond day‑to‑day earnings. Sriram Iyer, MD & CEO of HDFC Pension, described the milestone as a collective success of the industry, regulator and corporates, emphasizing the model’s role in providing a formal retirement solution for gig‑economy workers. Sumit Kumar, Chief General Manager of PFRDA, highlighted that the achievement shows gig workers are increasingly seeking long‑term financial security and that portable retirement pathways are critical for inclusive social security.
About the Partners
- HDFC Pension: Established in 2013, it is a licensed Pension Fund Manager and Point of Presence, wholly owned by HDFC Life, and manages pension corpus for both retail and corporate NPS subscribers.
- PFRDA: The regulatory authority overseeing the National Pension System in India.
- Kfintech: Central Recordkeeping Agency responsible for maintaining PRAN records.
Significance
The press release positions the NPS Platform Workers Model as a pioneering retirement solution for platform‑based gig workers, illustrating how aggregated small contributions can create a substantial corpus and offering a template that could be extended to other platform‑based employment cohorts.