Some experts hail SC move to hear gig workers' plea, some see dark cloud on economy

A Swiggy Delivery boy | Representative image

The Supreme Court’s decision to hear and examine a petition on various issues faced by gig workers has drawn applause from many experts, who are keenly waiting for the results, but some find it detrimental to the economy. 

“This is a big step for the gig workers and will make an impact on the whole country and lakhs of workers. Raising a voice against such big companies and the Supreme Court agreeing to listen to the petition is a huge milestone for us. We completely trust our judiciary and believe these workers will be given justice,” said Shaik Salauddin, National General Secretary of the Indian Federation of App-based Transport Workers (IFAT).

The court has issued notice to all parties, including the various ministries of the central government as well as ANI Technologies of Ola Cabs, Uber Services, Bundl Technologies running food-delivery platform Swiggy, and Zomato.

In a gig economy, temporary, flexible jobs are more common, with companies opting for independent contractors and freelancers, instead of hiring employees on payrolls.

Annanya Sarthak, Co-founder and CEO of work fulfilment platform Awign, said that with the law bringing in these benefits, more workers will be encouraged to join the gig economy. 

This will not necessarily increase costs for the companies. “We all do have a cost of acquisition and retention. With the law bringing these workers into the formal economy, many would be looking to do gig-jobs which will eventually cut the churn and bring down the acquisition and retention costs for us,” he said.

The plea mostly highlights the concerns of the cab drivers and delivery executives. Sarthak said the 80 percent of the gig economy includes other roles and they should also be included in these benefits.

For the unversed, the plea also asks whether the right to social security is a right for all working people regardless of whether they work in organised or unorganised sector.

“This will be detrimental for the gig economy and the workers as well. Many prefer gig-work as it gives one the choice to work the hours based on his convenience. These tech start-ups have brought in lakhs of employees from the informal sector where they used to work in far worse conditions. If these jobs start declining, these workers will have to return to those jobs and will lose such opportunities, hence the answer is to engage in a healthy debate of balance,” said Rituparna Chakraborty, Executive Vice-President, TeamLease Services, a staffing and human resources solutions firm.

This February, the British Supreme Court upheld a previous ruling by the employment tribunal that the 25 drivers who had brought a case against Uber should be recognised as employees and not as contractors. As a result, Uber soon began treating all its drivers in the UK as workers who are entitled to a minimum wage, holiday pay, and pension.

Even in the European Union, a draft has been introduced that aims to make platform companies such as Uber, Instacart, and Amazon classify their gig workforce as ‘employees’ and provide them with additional benefits. The proposal is still a draft and is still away from being implemented.

The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) has projected India’s gig economy would average a compounded annual rate of 17 percent to reach $455 billion by 2023.

“As a company, we have seen that the workers doing the jobs are looking for different options. Some are looking for full-time employment, some are looking only for gig jobs, they do not want that choice to be taken away. We are always listening to our delivery partners as their requirements matter more but if there is a change in law, we will accommodate changes in our operations and be compliant,” said Albinder Dhindsa, Founder and CEO of Grofers, which rebranded to Blinkit, in an interview with CNBC.