MUMBAI: Home services giant Urban Company has muscled its way into the quick commerce arena with a service that promises to deliver maids to your doorstep faster than a pizza. The cheekily named "Insta Maids" service, currently being trialled in Mumbai, offers desperate homeowners salvation when their regular help does the bunk —all for the bargain basement price of Rs 49 per hour.

"Your maid left you hanging? We leave your home spotless!" proclaims the company's rather saucy advertisement, which depicts a flustered woman receiving the dreaded text from "Sunita maid" announcing her sudden departure to the village—a scenario all too familiar to India's middle classes.

The 15-minute booking service offers everything from utensil scrubbing and floor mopping to chopping vegetables, effectively turning domestic labour into an on-demand commodity that can be summoned with the tap of a finger.

Urban Company's foray into what might be dubbed "maid commerce" has sparked a right proper row on social media, with critics accusing the platform of exploiting workers and trivialising domestic labour. The advert's tone, which some have labelled "bloody tone-deaf," hasn't helped matters.

Responding to the backlash with the corporate equivalent of "keep your knickers on," Urban Company has trumpeted the "overwhelmingly positive response" to the service. In a bid to counter the criticism,  the company insisted its service partners earn Rs 150-180 per hour—substantially more than the customer pays—alongside perks like health insurance and accident cover.

"Partners working for 132 hours per month are assured earnings of at least Rs 20,000," the firm claimed, adding that the current pricing is merely an "introductory offer" designed to hoover up customers before inevitable price hikes restore "viable economics."

Industry watchers note that Urban Company's venture represents the latest frontier in India's booming gig economy, where everything from food delivery to taxi services has been disrupted by tech platforms offering convenience at rock-bottom prices.

Whether "Insta Maids" will clean up or find itself in hot water remains to be seen, but one thing's certain—for Mumbai's harried homeowners, the days of being held hostage to their domestic help's village calendar might be numbered.