India's gig economy is booming but not without challenges

The Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh has taken up the cause of the gig workers.

(Sanghnomics is a weekly column that tracks down and demystifies the economic world view of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and organisations inspired by its ideology.)

As India's gig economy continues to expand rapidly, India's largest labour organisation, the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), inspired by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), has taken up the cause of the workers who are part of this new workforce.

According to NITI Aayog’s indicative estimates based on national labour force survey data, in 2020–21, 7.7 million (77 lakh) workers were engaged in the gig economy. According to the Economic Survey 2023-24, the gig workforce is expected to expand to 23.5 million (2.35 crore) and form 6.7 per cent of the non-agricultural workforce or 4.1 per cent of the total workforce in India by 2029–30.

Recognising this transformation, the Modi government introduced the Code on Social Security, 2020 (CoSS, 2020), which defined for the first time terms like ‘aggregator’, ‘gig worker’, and ‘platform worker’. This framework laid down by the Union government aims to ensure social security measures for this dynamic workforce.

In 2019-20, the Modi government consolidated 44 labour-related laws into four comprehensive codes, one of which was the Code for Social Security. According to Section 60 of this code, "platform work" means a work arrangement outside of a traditional employer-employee relationship, in which organisations or individuals use an online platform to access other organisations or individuals to solve specific problems or to provide specific services or any such other activities which may be notified by the Central Government, in exchange for payment; according to Section 61, "platform worker" means a person engaged in or undertaking platform work.

In the pre-budget discussions with the Union government this year, BMS took up the cause of these workers. The BMS is also addressing the issue at various other forums. CK Saji Narayan, the former national president of the organisation, spoke at length about gig workers at the BRICS Labour Conference in Russia last year. Representing the BMS at the conference, Narayan said that the gig economy is a rapidly emerging sector in India, with an estimated 8 to 18 million jobs as of now.

He further added, "The International Labour Organization (ILO) reports that India is the second-largest gig economy in the world, with around 56% of all gig workers in the Asia-Pacific region. This sector has introduced new job opportunities, but it also raises concerns regarding workers’ protections and income stability. These workers often face harsh working conditions, occupational safety and health issues, with minimal oversight. Platforms often classify platform workers as ‘contract workers’, which can exclude them from benefits such as minimum wages, overtime compensation, annual leave, severance pay, pension schemes, employee provident fund (EPF) accounts, and protections against discrimination."

According to the BMS leader, "By adding these workers to the definition in the Social Security Code, the government has officially recognised gig and platform workers. The Code also provides for setting up a Social Security Fund wherein companies, including those in ride-sharing, food delivery, grocery delivery, and e-commerce, are required to contribute to social security through aggregators."

In 2022, the Dattopant Thengadi Foundation, a BMS-inspired think tank on labour issues, pointed out that gig workers often have to work in inhuman conditions, and many are facing exploitation by their employers. In an issue brief on 'gig workers', the think tank highlighted the urgent need to improve their working conditions.

The Union Budget 2025-26 marked a significant milestone in this journey. The Modi government announced a comprehensive initiative to extend formal recognition and social security benefits to platform-based gig workers.

In her budget speech, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced specific measures to facilitate the identification of gig workers through unique identity cards, streamline their registration on the Central government's e-Shram portal, and ensure access to healthcare under PM Jan Arogya Yojana.

These are important steps that would help further strengthen the safety net for gig workers across sectors.

Last year, the Union Ministry of Labour and Employment had taken a pilot initiative to register platform workers and aggregators on the e-Shram portal. According to Union Labour and Employment Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, "An Aggregator Module has also been piloted, enabling digital platforms to onboard themselves and their workforce onto India’s national database for unorganised workers. As part of this pilot, four leading aggregators—Urban Company, Zomato, Blinkit, and Uncle Delivery—have already registered."

However, there is still a long way to go. In the third week of February  a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justices Dipankar Datta and Manmohan

while hearing the Indian Federation of App Based Transport Workers’ (IFAT) petition has asked the government authorities to speed up the implementation of Code for Social Security Code for them.According to the information shared by the union government counsel during this hearing, 32 states and union territories had created draft rules to implement the Code for Social Security.

The Court also sought a clear timeline from the government authorities regarding the full-fledged  implementation of the Code on Social Security, 2020  that is going to cover gig and platform workers.

Earlier Sanghnomics columns can be read here.