From Partner to Beneficiary: The Delayed Recognition of Gig Workers Rights in India
Introduction
In the era of growing digital economy India took nearly a decade only to recognise platform workers or gig workers as Beneficiaries, where other countries like UK not only recognise platform workers as ‘worker’ but also entitle them to minimum wage, paid annual leave, and rest breaks. However, India is still struggling to provide them a status of worker or even to entitle them to basic rights of a worker.
Where in this digital era it only takes seconds to book a ride or to order food yet we forget the rights of the people making that convenience possible. For years Gig workers are the backbone of platforms like Uber, Zomato and Swiggy still they operate in legally grey area because they are labelled as ‘partners’ to avoid standard labour protection.
The ‘Partner’ Myth
Strategic move to bypass obligation: for many years companies maintained a legal fiction that gig workers or platform workers are independent contractor or partners as they enjoy the freedom to work but if we observe it closely it was actually a strategic move to bypass the standard labour protection laws in India like Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, Minimum Wages Act, 1948, Employees’ provident Funds & Misc. Provisions Act, 1952.
Independence of Platform Workers in India: if we observe from the perspective of Control Test platform workers not really have freedom as, while a driver choose when to login the algorithm directs how they work, setting the price, determining the route, penalizing the refusal, As noted in my analysis of the global landscape courts worldwide are recognizing that when an app controls the “manner and means” of work the worker is not a partner but a subordinate.
The 2024-2025 Status: Promises vs Reality
Statutory Recognition: In 2020 government of India passed Code of Social Security, 2020 which effectively reclassifies gig workers from “Partner” to “Beneficiaries” recognising their need of state protection, code of social security also introduced The Funding Mechanism which makes aggregators contribute some percentage in Social Security Fund. Section 114(7) of code of social security 2020 mandates the aggregator to contribute 1-2% of their annual turnover to social security fund. This creates a distinct financial architecture where the responsibility for social security is shared this shifts the burden from the worker to the platform. However, the collection of such fund has not yet started and till the money reaches social security fund these beneficiaries have security net in papers but not in practice.
The Mechanism: e-Shram integration: In 2024-2025 Annual report presented by Ministry of Labour and Employment government presented a special module to verify platform workers through their respective aggregators, government objective is to link this registration to benefits like Ayushman Bharat health cover providing safety net, also this is the foundation strategy to implement the funding mechanism presented in 2020. However, NITI Aayog projections which estimates that India’s gig workforce is expected to expand to over 23.5 million by 2029-2030 which is just a contrast to current reality of e-Shram portal where the recent data indicates that only approximately 3 lakh workers have been effectively registered and verified.
The Governance Gap
State laws vs Central laws: Even when the code of social security was passed in 2020 no action was taken for the implementation of the law it took nearly half a decade till 2024-2025 annual report when any step ahead was introduced through e-Shram to implement the social security code which is still in operationalization phase, due to this inaction and delay by the central government, state government had to enact their own law which is a clear evidence of central inaction. Due to prolonged protest of the Indian Federation of App-based Transport Workers (IFAT) and civil society groups like MKSS (Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan), in 2023 State of Rajasthan passed Rajasthan Platform Based Gig Workers (Registration and Welfare) Act, 2023, by this law state established a welfare board and mandated a transaction-based surcharge to fund benefit immediately, the central wanted to create one uniform law however due to delay state has to enact their own rules creating the very confusion the code was supposed to avoid.
Global Contrast: While India is still struggling to implement social security code other jurisdictions like UK not only give them legal status but also entitle them to minimum wage, paid annual leave, and rest breaks. In the landmark case of Uber BV v. Aslam (2021), the UK Supreme Court ruled that “Uber drivers are not independent contractors but “workers” an intermediate category between employee and contractor”, and this entitle them all the statutory rights of a worker. However, if we observe the situation in India platform workers are defined under code of social security but not under code of wage, this gives them a status of beneficiaries rather than worker. They are given right to welfare scheme like Ayushman Bharat but denied fundamental labour rights of minimum wage and overtime protection.
The Judicial push: while there is legislative and executive delay in providing social security benefit to gig workers, which is still pending no funds has been collected in social security funds yet, but we can witness the judicial intervention in the ongoing writ petition of The Indian Federation of App-based Transport Workers (IFAT) v. Union of India, where petitioner have challenged lack of social security as a violation of Article 21 Right to work and livelihood, Article 14 Equality before law and Article 23 Forced labour. The petitioner has argued that the algorithm control and low pay is modern day forced labour. The supreme court has repeatedly pulled up the central government for its delay in framing social security rule and repeatedly mentioned that the Beneficiary model is a major policy gap.
Conclusion
The release of annual report 2024-2025 has definitely made a major difference by including gig workers in category of unorganised workers and by introducing the e-Shram portal and there by giving them right under code of social security which was not present earlier, this can be marked as a first step towards recognising the right of gig workers.
However, the core problem is still that these ‘beneficiaries’ have a safety net on paper but not in practice the law has been framed but the mechanisms to implement it are missing, we have defined the gig worker, but we have not yet enforced the aggregator contribution. And until the funding flows the promise remains unfulfilled.
Author:–Divyanshi Mishra, in case of any queries please contact/write back to us atsupport@ipandlegalfilings.com or IP & Legal Filing.
Reference
- NITI Aayog, India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Work (2022) 15.
- Code on Social Security, 2020, ss 2(35), 2(61).
- Code on Social Security, 2020, s 114(7).
- Rajasthan Platform Based Gig Workers (Registration and Welfare) Act, 2023, ss 4, 15.
- Uber BV v. Aslam [2021] UKSC 5.
- Ministry of Labour and Employment, Annual Report 2024-25, Government of India.
- The Indian Federation of App-based Transport Workers (IFAT) v. Union of India, Writ Petition (Civil) No. 1068 of 2021
