India is not new to the industry of gig and platform work owing to a large base of “informal workers” characterized by flexible work arrangements and self-employment. The Niti Aayog report (2022) refers to gig workers as those who typically participate in income-generating tasks beyond conventional employer-employee setups, often within the informal sector.
A telling example of this, which could also serve as a small experiment for readers, is evident when we interact with app-based platforms that offer delivery, ride-hailing, or at home services. Instead of phrases like ‘our employee or worker is at your location’, we commonly encounter terms such as ‘our delivery partner or captain is at your location’. Described as ‘partners’ or ‘independent contractors’ by their respective companies, platform workers operate beyond the conventional employer-employee dynamic, often without adequate safeguards against the inherent risks their line of work poses. In this article, platform work refers to ‘app-based work’ where app-based platforms procure the individuals to carry out certain tasks for them on commission basis. In India, for example, when gig workers utilize specific app-based platforms like Ola, Uber, Dunzo, Zomato, Swiggy, or Urban Company to engage with customers, they are referred to as platform workers.
In both the media and among the general public, there exists a tendency to idealize gig work as a novel and liberating form of employment. However, the reality is that a significant portion of gig workers are engaged in what can be considered the most basic form of gig work, primarily comprising localized blue-collar jobs. However, the initial attraction towards gig work often gives way to the realization that the gig economy is fraught with challenges. These include unpredictable earnings,India is not new to the industry of gig and platform work owing to a large base of “informal workers” characterized by flexible work arrangements and self-employment. The Niti Aayog report (2022) refers to gig workers as those who typically participate in income-generating tasks beyond conventional employer-employee setups, often within the informal sector.
A telling example of this, which could also serve as a small experiment for readers, is evident when we interact with app-based platforms that offer delivery, ride-hailing, or at home services. Instead of phrases like ‘our employee or worker is at your location’, we commonly encounter terms such as ‘our delivery partner or captain is at your location’. Described as ‘partners’ or ‘independent contractors’ by their respective companies, platform workers operate beyond the conventional employer-employee dynamic, often without adequate safeguards against the inherent risks their line of work poses. In this article, platform work refers to ‘app-based work’ where app-based platforms procure the individuals to carry out certain tasks for them on commission basis. In India, for example, when gig workers utilize specific app-based platforms like Ola, Uber, Dunzo, Zomato, Swiggy, or Urban Company to engage with customers, they are referred to as platform workers.
In both the media and among the general public, there exists a tendency to idealize gig work as a novel and liberating form of employment. However, the reality is that a significant portion of gig workers are engaged in what can be considered the most basic form of gig work, primarily comprising localized blue-collar jobs. However, the initial attraction towards gig work often gives way to the realization that the gig economy is fraught with challenges. These include unpredictable earnings,
exploitative working conditions, deceptive recruitment tactics used to entice workers, absence of social security benefits, limited bargaining power, difficulty in unionising, among others. Minimum pay guarantee and regulations on continuous working hours which are encompassed in almost every labour legislation of traditional employment are absent in gig work.
To effectively formulate policies and legislation that formally recognize gig work, it’s imperative to gain a comprehensive understanding of the diverse traits of gig work and their daily experiences. For some, gig work might be a path to entrepreneurial possibilities and engaging in independent work, based on the premise of “be your own boss” notion of autonomy. While for some others it may just be a temporary fix or stop gap, to sustain themselves until some other opportunity comes knocking on their doors.
Understanding this context is crucial for workers who persist in gig work. Despite their educational backgrounds and proficiency in English, many lack the capital and access to alternative forms of employment. While they turn to gig work in hopes of eventually securing formal jobs, they often find themselves feeling like daily wage labourers in the gig economy, subjected to the unpredictable nature of work and fluctuating pay rates, leaving them vulnerable to the whims of platform aggregators. It is for people like these, whether doing gig work to support an alternate source of income, whether doing it as a first job to support their family, whether doing it as a last resort despite having educational background but facing rising unemployment, that the respectability and recognition of such work becomes so important.
In September of 2020, the Social Security code 2020 was passed with the President’s assent in an attempt to consolidate nine existing labour laws relating to social security with the overarching objective to broaden the scope of social security benefits to encompass all employees and workers, regardless of their affiliation with the organized or unorganized sector. The Code is the first codified law in India to define ‘platform workers’ and ‘gig workers’. But the overlap of definitions of gig workers, platform workers and unorganized sector has drawn criticism from various academicians. It is a general understanding that gig and platform workers are a subset of the unorganized workforce in the country. However, delineating them from unorganized workers by providing distinct definitions and provisions ultimately denies them the protection and social security benefits accessible to unorganized workers. The provisions tailored for platform workers are notably fewer in comparison to those for unorganized workers, with the exception of schemes related to retirement, provident fund, etc.
The prevalent use of the term “may” across the Code indicates that the implementation of welfare and social security measures is at the discretion of the Central Government. “Sec 114. (1) of the Code states that the “Central Government may frame and notify, from time to time, suitable social security schemes for gig workers and platform workers on matters relating to….”.
The setting up of helplines or facilitation centers as grievance mechanisms for such gig and platform workers is also as per the discretion of the Central Government. This supplements the existing trend of labour welfare laws in the nation, emphasizing the adoption of a welfare-based approach rather than a rights-based one.
Upon deeper inspection of section 110 of the Code, it becomes apparent that funding for these welfare activities hinges on a joint responsibility shared by both the Centre and the States. However, if history is any indication, this arrangement will lead to misuse of the ambiguity in the language of the Code resulting in a game of passing the buck between the Centre and the States, leaving neither party willing to fulfil their obligations.
In light of these considerations, the lack of compulsory responsibilities on the government to provide safeguarding and aid to unorganized sector and gig/platform workers, the lack of any clear understanding on when the Codes are to be implemented, begs the question whether the new Code deemed as the harbinger of justice for informal workers is merely old wine in a new box?
The Covid-19 Pandemic exposed the myth of platform workers being independent contractors in the economy. Stripped of their primary source of income and with little accountability of such aggregate platforms of their workers, they were left vulnerable to heightened health risks and social stigma of pandemic and many had to fall back on their relatives and friends for sustenance. There is an urgent need to implement the necessary changes to the Social Security Code, 2020 and bring out state specific legislations to ensure accountability of the aggregate platforms and social security of the gig and platform workers.
