Coronavirus: Mumbai’s popular Dabbawalas tiffin service faces financial crisis amid India’s COVID-19 lockdown

With the ongoing coronavirus-induced lockdown, India’s famous tiffin delivery service in Mumbai, the ‘dabbawalas’ have severely been impacted, and are facing a financial crisis.

Sharing the sad news, social media users, especially from Mumbai urged the Maharashtra government to help the dabbawalas, who have been a part of the Mumbai city’s very identity for the over 125 years.

Every day, around 5,000 Dabbawalas pick up home-cooked meals – mostly from the customers’ own houses and deliver it to their workplace.

Since their inception, the dabbawalas never had to stop tiffin delivery. Their system is so efficient that in 2010, Harvard Business School added the case study, The Dabbawala System: On-Time Delivery, Every Time to their compendium for its high level of service with a low-cost and simple operating system.

Tweep @Nimitiwari posted: “Mumbai’s legendary Dabbawalas delivering food every day from your home to your office without any mistakes ever since the 1890s. Unbelievable management!”

But with the likelihood of the lockdown not ending anytime soon, the company, which used to deliver nearly 200,000 home-cooked lunches a day, is still uncertain about the time in which it is going to resume its service.

The Mumbai Dabbawala Association has urged the state government to provide financial support to every dabbawala.

"We are facing a financial crisis like situation due to this lockdown. We do not have any other source of income now, most of the dabbawalas have returned to their native places. Their condition even got worsen after cyclone Nisarga which has ruined their houses and fields," Nitin Sawant, Secretary of Mumbai Dabbawala Association said, according to local reports.

@ashoswai tweeted: “Unemployed since March by Modi's lockdown and hit by cyclone Nisarga, Mumbai's 5000 'dabbawalas' searching for non-existent jobs.”

On Tuesday, Maharashtra cabinet held a meeting and discussed how the government can provide financial help to dabbawalas.

"We have heard that seeing the current situation of coronavirus, the government is considering transferring Rs2,000(Dh96) in every dabbawala's accounts, which is insufficient to survive in Mumbai. This amount should be Rs5,000(Dh241) at least," Nitin Sawant added.

Twitter user @jalaneelu tweeted: “It’s really a high time to support them… Dabbawalas are there when we need them, and now we should be there when they need us.”