The Indian Federation of App-based Transport Workers (IFAT) has expressed concerns over the implications of the ongoing public consultation on the Draft Code on Social Security Rules, 2020.
In a letter to the Ministry of Labour and Employment, the federation, along with All India Gig Workers Union, All India IT and ITeS Employees’ Union and other labour unions and civil society organisations have demanded to universalise social security for platform workers so that all platform workers can be guaranteed a basic social protection floor.
It said the provisions in the draft rules currently impose an age limit for platform workers to be eligible for social security.
It has also demanded that the draft rules should specify that all workers associated with any of the nine classes of aggregators mentioned in the seventh schedule of the Code on Social Security, 2020 [ride sharing, food and grocery delivery, logistics, e-marketplace, professional services provider, healthcare, travel and hospitality, content and media services, and any other goods and services provider platforms] are to be treated as platform workers.
In its letter, the IFAT has also demanded clarity about aggregator contributions since platform workers may work for several aggregators simultaneously, and be engaged as workers for intermittent and irregular periods of time.
It also said that the draft rules should outline how the number of days worked impacts the nature and extent of social protection that platform workers are eligible for.
It has also demanded clarification regarding the instance when an aggregator can be exempted to make contributions to the social security fund for the platform workers.
The alliance has also mooted a National Social Security Board for Gig Workers and Platform Workers and the creation of a centralised database of platform workers and gig workers of which the workers should have access to editing, correcting and disputing the records of the aggregators. It has also sought the creation of an audit mechanism by the government for the same.
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