Upzy House: Hyderabad launches first membership centre for gig and platform workers
HYDERABAD: The first membership-based center for gig workers and delivery riders, ‘Upzy House’, was officially launched on High-Tension Line Road, Kondapur, on Friday, with Telangana Labour Minister Gaddam Vivekanand inaugurating the facility. The center will remain accessible to workers seven days a week, from 6 am to 11 pm.
The facility is aimed at resolving daily challenges faced by gig workers and delivery riders who navigate city roads through scorching heat and heavy rains. The launch saw the State Labour Minister and gig workers union representatives share the same stage.
According to a press release, the ‘Upzy’ team conducted an on-ground study over six months by speaking directly with 4,163 gig workers in Kondapur and surrounding dark-store clusters. The study revealed that 68 per cent of them spend more than 10 hours a day on the roads. Due to a complete lack of basic amenities during working hours, 90 per cent stated that they use the roadside or inconvenient public toilets. Only 5 per cent reported that the platform aggregators they work for provide adequate washroom access.
Open to workers across all Apps
Workers delivering for Swiggy, Zomato, Zepto, Blinkit, Amazon, Flipkart, BigBasket, JioMart, Rapido or offering doorstep services through Urban Company can obtain membership. Members get access to air-conditioned seating, hygienic washrooms, quality breakfast, lunch and dinner, along with mobile charging facilities. Free doctor consultations are provided Monday through Saturday, from 9 am to 5 pm. Recreational facilities such as table tennis, carrom and chess are also available. A nominal membership fee of ₹99 per week or ₹349 per month has been set for these services.
A dedicated private lounge has been set up exclusively for women gig workers. Recognising that the absence of clean restrooms and safe waiting spaces is the primary reason deterring women from entering the gig economy, the facility was specially designed to cater to their needs.
Rider is the primary customer
“The rider is our primary customer. Since they pay us a membership fee, it is our responsibility to provide them with the best service every single day. If the quality drops, they will not return. We will launch more centers across Hyderabad until every gig worker in the city has a facility within reach of their working zone,” said Aditya Vuchi, Co-founder and CEO of Upzy.
“When we spoke to more than 4,000 riders, none asked for grand luxuries. They only asked for a clean toilet, a place to sit and hygienic food. Women workers voiced this necessity with even greater urgency. Our goal is to ensure the facility remains as spotless at 10 pm as it is at 10 am,” said Niranjan Seelam, Co-founder and COO.
Union seeks government collaboration
Shaik Salauddin, Founder President of the Telangana Gig and Platform Workers Union, who participated in the launch, remarked: “While delivering orders in IT corridors and looking at corporate campuses, every rider wished for a dignified rest area of their own. Upzy House has turned that dream into reality. There is no other facility like this anywhere in the country. If the government brings Upzy as a partner for upcoming public worker restrooms and allocates maintenance costs from the Gig Worker Welfare Board cess funds, the system will run smoothly. The Labour Department is already acting swiftly on ID blockages and grievance redressal. Since this platform has emerged through collaborative spirit, the responsibility to keep it clean and protected rests equally on workers.”
Labour Minister Gaddam Vivekanand said, “To protect the rights of gig workers who toil on the roads all day for all of us, the Telangana Government introduced the Telangana Platform-Based Gig Workers (Registration, Social Security and Welfare) Act, 2026 in the Legislative Assembly. Facilities like this, where workers can rest and dine with dignity, are immensely valuable. We look forward to seeing more such centers come up across the city.”
Serilingampally MLA Arekapudi Gandhi, former Chevella MP Dr. G. Ranjith Reddy, Telangana State Yadava Cooperative Corporation Chairman M. Raghunath Yadav and Labour and Employment Department Secretary Dr. Hari Chandana Dasari, IAS, among others, were present at the event. Upzy operates dedicated, membership-based community centers for gig workers in Hyderabad. Founded by Aditya Vuchi and Niranjan Seelam, who previously co-founded ‘Zippr’, the initiative is managed under Chashi Technologies Private Limited.
