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| When a Name Becomes a Barrier: Muslim Gig Workers Hide Their Identity to Keep Working |
What begins as a practical adjustment, workers say, often becomes a quiet act of survival.
One delivery rider who appeared on an app as “Bittu Bittu” later revealed that his real name was Salman Mohammad. According to him, displaying his Muslim identity reduced the number of rides he received. Another worker said he shortened “Mohammad” to the initials “MD” after repeatedly encountering customers who refused service upon realizing he was Muslim.
In another incident, a home service worker in Delhi said a customer cancelled the interaction after her name appeared on the app screen during a verified booking process. The service had already been confirmed, but the customer’s attitude changed once her religious identity became visible.
These incidents point to a deeper concern surrounding India’s app-based economy, where technology has made personal identity instantly visible while offering little protection against prejudice.
Digital Platforms and Invisible Bias
The gig economy was once promoted as a more democratic form of work, where algorithms, ratings, and digital access would create equal opportunity. But critics argue that these platforms often mirror the same social biases found offline.
India’s gig workforce currently includes more than 7.7 million people and is projected to grow to 23.5 million by 2030, according to NITI Aayog. Many of these workers already operate without stable wages, social security, or employment protections. For Muslim workers, discrimination can add another layer of economic uncertainty.
One widely discussed case emerged in 2022, when a Swiggy customer in Ahmedabad reportedly requested that a Muslim delivery worker not be assigned to their order. The delivery worker, Sadam Kureshi, later said he contacted the company’s helpline but was only offered cancellation of the order, with no visible action taken against the customer.
Critics say such incidents raise larger questions about whether technology companies are doing enough to prevent discriminatory behaviour on their platforms. Experts note that filtering abusive or discriminatory language through apps is technically possible, yet such safeguards remain limited or inconsistently enforced.
When Technology Reveals Identity Instantly
Digital payment systems have created similar challenges beyond the gig economy.
Following the rise of UPI payments and QR code transactions after demonetisation, some Muslim street vendors and small shopkeepers reported facing hostility when customers saw Muslim names appear during payment confirmation screens.
In one incident that circulated widely online in 2024, a right-wing activist confronted a juice stall worker after noticing the name “Ali” during a Google Pay transaction. The video showed the activist expressing surprise at the worker’s religion after the payment had already been processed.
Observers argue that technology itself did not create communal prejudice, but it has removed layers of anonymity that once existed in everyday interactions. A name displayed on a mobile screen can now trigger immediate assumptions before any personal interaction takes place.
The Weight Carried by a Name
In India, names often signal religion, caste, and regional identity almost instantly. Sociologists have long argued that identity markers can shape public perception before an individual is even seen or heard.
The late sociologist Erving Goffman, known for his work on identity and stigma, wrote extensively about how labels can overshadow individual identity. Experts say similar patterns are visible in platform-based work today, where a worker’s name may influence customer behaviour before the service even begins.
Researchers have also documented how some Muslim women in domestic work reportedly adopt Hindu-sounding names or alter their appearance to avoid suspicion and maintain employment opportunities.
A Pattern Seen Across the World
The phenomenon is not unique to India.
In the United States, audit studies have repeatedly shown that job applicants with traditionally Black-sounding names receive fewer callbacks than those with white-sounding names despite having identical qualifications. Economists Marianne Bertrand and Sendhil Mullainathan famously found that resumes with white-sounding names received significantly more responses than those associated with Black Americans.
Similar trends have been observed in India’s housing market. A study by the United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research found that Muslim applicants in Delhi’s rental market received substantially fewer responses compared to upper-caste Hindu applicants.
Another study conducted by researchers from O.P. Jindal Global University and the Centre for Policy Research documented cases in Delhi and Mumbai where tenants allegedly faced pressure or eviction after landlords discovered their religious identity.
The coping mechanisms also appear strikingly similar across societies. In the United States, some Black Americans altered names on resumes to improve hiring chances. In India’s gig economy, Muslim workers say they are doing the same on digital platforms.
Discrimination Beyond the Gig Economy
Concerns about exclusion extend into corporate India as well.
A study by the Economic Times Intelligence Group found that although Muslims make up more than 14 percent of India’s population, they hold fewer than 3 percent of senior executive and director-level positions in BSE 500 companies.
In 2024, food delivery platform Zomato faced criticism after announcing separate vegetarian and non-vegetarian delivery fleets with distinct uniforms. Critics argued that the move could expose Muslim delivery workers to increased profiling and harassment, especially given the sensitivity surrounding beef-related issues in parts of the country. Following backlash from worker groups and activists, the company later withdrew the proposal.
In some states, directives requiring restaurants to display employee names have also reportedly led certain businesses to remove Muslim staff to avoid becoming targets of political or communal scrutiny.
The Human Cost of Renaming
For many workers, changing a name on an app may appear small from the outside, but those affected describe it as deeply personal.
When workers replace their real names with nicknames, initials, or altered identities, they are often making a calculation about safety, income, and acceptance. The burden of adjustment falls entirely on them rather than on customers or platforms.
Advocates argue that technology companies could introduce stronger safeguards, including filters for discriminatory requests and systems that allow workers to report abuse without financial penalties. But many workers say such protections remain inadequate or absent.
Until meaningful changes are introduced, countless workers continue navigating discrimination quietly — adapting themselves to systems that often fail to protect them while carrying the emotional and economic cost alone.
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