The Secret Life of Your Orders: Who Bears the Weight of Instant Delivery?
Penguin Random House India is proud to introduce OTP Please! by Vandana Vasudevan—a revelatory book that asks what no grocery app, cab provider or food delivery service dares to: Who’s paying the real convenience fee?
A cab in five minutes. Groceries in ten. Biryani in twenty. In a world where everything is promised fast, fresh and effortless, OTP Please! exposes the hidden human stories behind South Asia’s booming app economy: from the gig workers who race against time to the small sellers struggling against the algorithm, and the restless customer who can’t stop tapping ‘Order Now’.
Whether it’s India’s hyperlocal delivery boys or Pakistan’s ride-hail drivers, from Nepal’s app startups to Bangladesh’s e-marketplace sellers, development researcher, columnist and author Vandana Vasudevan maps this invisible ecosystem with rare depth and honesty. This is the first book to reveal what really powers your digital ease and what it quietly takes away.
In this story of taps and transactions, this is the cast that makes the app life run:
The Customer: Addicted to Ease
We’ve become app-native: scrolling, swiping, rating, and returning. Convenience feels free, but every order or careless review triggers a chain reaction, one that the customer will never be aware of.
The Worker: Rated, Tracked, Replaceable
Gig workers aren’t as free as they seem. Inside ‘dark stores’ and warehouses, gruelling shifts play out under algorithmic eyes. What started as a side hustle has become permanent gig work, a contradiction, but a common reality.
The Seller: Visible One Day, Vanished the Next
Many sellers, like small shop owners and homegrown brands, joined online platforms hoping for reach and growth. But once inside, they face sudden suspensions, hidden fees, and cutthroat competition. What happens when your Amazon account is blocked without warning, and your future is always uncertain?
The Platform: The Invisible Boss
At the top of this system sit the platforms—powerful, automated, and answerable to no one. Without employing workers directly, they control everything: ratings, payouts, assignments, and suspensions. The app has become both the workplace and boss.
Welcome to what Vasudevan calls the Planet of the Apps, where every tap promises ease but hides an entire economy of invisible labour. In this hyper-digital world, tech has simply repackaged the oldest job of human history, that of the dalal or the middleman. The new dalal is data-driven, automated, and everywhere. Deeply researched yet breezily narrated, OTP Please! is essential reading to understand the extraordinary digital age we inhabit.
Praise for OTP Please!:
“An entertaining, insightful and nuanced read that ties together so many different stories!”
– R. Madhavan, Actor
“A fascinating book that reflects the pervasive influence of technology on our attitudes and behaviours… compelling us to think about how we consume, how sustainable the business models that encourage higher levels of convenience are and what needs to be addressed”
– Vinita Bali, Global Business Leader
About The Author
Vandana Vasudevan is an IIM Ahmedabad alumna, PhD scholar in urban development, and author of Urban Villager and Tough Customer. Her journalistic work in Mint and DNA has made her a trusted voice on urban and economic change in India. In OTP Please!, she brings empathy, humour, and unsparing clarity to South Asia’s digital gig world.
