Ola scores a duck for third consecutive year in rankings for fairness of gig work

This year, no platform scored more than six out of the maximum of ten points

For the third year in a row, ride-hailing major Ola scored zero out of 10 points and remained at the bottom of the table in Fairwork’s ranking of e-commerce platforms in terms of fairness to gig workers.

Meanwhile, Ola, Uber challenger BluSmart emerged as the front-runner in the ride-hailing space with 5 points out of 10. Uber scored 1 point.

While BigBasket topped the fairness table with 6 points, Zomato, Swiggy, Urban Company and BluSmart came in joint second with 5 points each. Zepto scored 4 points, Flipkart 3, Amazon 2, Dunzo 1 and Porter was relegated to the bottom of the table with Ola at zero points.

The Fairwork India team decided to include BluSmart in the ratings – a ride-hailing platform aggregator that owns and leases vehicles to its workers. This differentiates it from the other platforms in this sector that operate on “asset-light” models. According to the report, there is room for cautious optimism that BluSmart’s operational model might represent a step towards better conditions for drivers in the platform economy.

This year, no platform scored more than six out of the maximum of ten points, and none scored all the first points across the five principles of fairness — pay, conditions, contracts, management and representation.

A survey of 963 consumers was conducted across the 12 platforms ranked by Fairwork India for the rankings. The survey gauged the awareness and perception of the working conditions of platform workers amongst these consumers in 12 major cities.

“In a year that has seen the formulation of a significant regulation based on inputs from workers, [The Rajasthan Platform Based Gig workers (Registration and Welfare) Act, 2023], we hope that highlighting the experiences of workers will point to the structural changes that platforms, consumers and the State alike will need to undertake if the platform economy is to offer its workers decent work,” said Professors Balaji Parthasarathy and Janaki Srinivasan, the Principal Investigators of the report.

BigBasket, Flipkart, and Urban Company were the only platforms with a minimum wage policy to ensure that all their workers earn at least the hourly local minimum wage after factoring in work-related costs.

No platform made the second point of the Fair Pay principle, which requires platforms to provide sufficient evidence that workers earn at least the local living wage after work-related costs. However, Urban Company has made a public commitment to ensure that its workers earn at least the local living wage after factoring in work-related costs.

Amazon Flex, bigbasket, BluSmart, Flipkart, Swiggy, Urban Company, Uber, Zepto and Zomato were awarded the first point under the Fair Conditions principle for providing adequate safety equipment and periodic safety training to their workers.

Only BigBasket, Swiggy, Urban Company, Zepto and Zomato were awarded the second point for providing workers with accident insurance coverage at no additional cost, monetary compensation for income loss in cases where they were unable to work due to medical reasons other than accidents, and for ensuring workers’ standing was not negatively affected when they returned after a break taken with prior notification given to the platform.

Seven out of 12 platforms were awarded the first point for the Fair Contracts principle. BigBasket, BluSmart,Dunzo, Swiggy, Urban Company, Zepto and Zomato were awarded this point for ensuring the accessibility and comprehensibility of their contracts, and for having a protocol for data protection and management of worker data.

BigBasket, BluSmart, Urban Company, Zepto, and Zomato met the requirements for the second point under Fair Contracts by adopting a change notification clause in their contracts, reducing asymmetries in liability (such as by a provision to compensate workers for losses due to app malfunctions), adopting a Code of Conduct for their subcontractors, and making the variables of pricing transparent where dynamic pricing was used.