Platform or gig workers will likely get life and accident insurance covers in addition to health insurance if the government goes ahead with its plans for the social security corpus.
“We are mulling a proposal to extend life and accident insurance benefits from the fund that aggregators would contribute to. A portion of the fund would be utilised for these benefits, while the remainder would be secured for future social safety net,” an official told Moneycontrol.
The Code on Social Security, 2020, notified in September 2020, mandates that aggregators contribute up to 2 percent of their annual turnover to the Centre’s Social Security Fund “dedicated to the welfare of unorganised, gig, and platform workers”.
All major aggregators — including Zomato, Blinkit and Swiggy — are aligned with the scheme’s objectives, sources said.
In the Budget for FY26, the government extended health insurance benefits to all gig workers under the Ayushman Bharat scheme.
“Earlier, the government’s focus was limited to pensions but we now intend to provide comprehensive social security benefits,” the official added.
In addition to aggregator contributions, the new scheme is likely to adopt a contributory model, allowing workers to chip in towards their pension fund.
The government, however, does not want to lock in all the funds and is exploring ways to allow workers to withdraw part of the corpus in times of need.
“If someone needs money for their daughter’s marriage or their child’s education, then finances should not be a hurdle,” the official added.
The labour ministry is expected to roll out the scheme in the coming months.
Since many platform workers engage with two or more aggregators, all such employers will be required to contribute based on the 2 percent rule.
The worker will be assigned a single Universal Account Number (UAN) by the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), which will be shared with employers so that the contribution flow into one unified social security account.
If a worker transitions to a regular job, the social security account under the gig scheme would be merged with the EPFO account.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in the Budget that around 10 million gig workers would be registered on the labour ministry’s e-Shram portal and assigned a UAN to avail health benefits.
More than one million such workers had been assigned a UAN by the end of April.
NITI Aayog estimates that the country had around 7.7 million gig workers in 2020–21, a number expected to grow to 23.5 million by 2030.
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