OPINION | Karnataka’s proposed law to aid domestic workers will end up hurting them

The stated purpose of this bill is to provide domestic workers the right to decent conditions of work, social security and welfare of domestic workers in the state of Karnataka. The proposed bill, however, raises serious questions.

Issues with the proposed law

State capacity: The bill proposes self-declared registration of all entities involved which would need approval from the board. Further, employees are mandated to let the state know via a registered letter or in-person in case of job change. The board is also expected to ensure decent working conditions by responding to complaints, setting standards, conducting inspections, providing for maternity/paternity benefits and making future laws. There is an advisory committee, grievance redressal committees and inspectors who are given various discretionary powers.

It can be argued that these powers risk recreating the "inspector raj" in the informal sector, citing past laws that resulted in high costs on society and lax enforcement.

Privacy: The bill empowers inspectors to enter private homes at their discretion to check if the working conditions comply with the standards set by the board. A refusal of entry / non-obligation of such entry may result in heavy penalties or a jail term for the employer. This is a recipe for harassment and a serious assault on the right of privacy. 

Rent-seeking: The unprecedented powers enjoyed by the inspectors is bound to result in rent-seeking and extortion from both the employer and the employee.

Over-criminalisation: With even trivial non-compliance leading to jail terms and penalties, the load on the already overstretched judiciary will only increase. The mandated employment agreement compliance and working conditions adherence are civil issues, but the law seems to use jail terms frivolously in an attempt to intimidate rather than reform.

Jurisdiction of courts: The proposed bill unconstitutionally gives excessive discretionary power to the state government by mandating a sanction by the state before any court can take cognisance of any offence punishable under this bill.

Market distortion: Stringent laws, fees, and compliance burdens—combined with the state's lack of enforcement capacity—will incentivise labour market withdrawal by both parties.

This distortion will increase the use of household technology (e.g., dishwashers), ultimately harming the very domestic workers the state intends to protect.

Adverse selection

By granting special privileges, the bill creates a policy skew and adverse selection issues. Other groups will seek to identify as domestic workers, leading to state capacity being wasted on scrutiny instead of effective welfare measures.

Recommendations

While we support the bill's objectives and acknowledge the state's drive for reform in this vulnerable sector, we recommend a targeted approach to avoid unintended regulatory burdens:

Helpline and nodal Officers in RWAs: A more targeted and efficient approach is to establish a helpline for domestic workers and mandate a grievance nodal officer in all Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) above a certain size. A domestic helper who is harassed can approach either. This mechanism would leverage existing state machinery for action, eliminating the need for a new board, inspectors, standard-setting, and compliance bureaucracy.

General Social Security and Welfare: Many central-level and state-level schemes are available for workers in the informal sector. The e-Shram portal for registrations, Ayushman Bharat for insurance, Atal pension scheme for pension, etc. are made available already. The bill need not define or envisage any new social security measure that is not available for the general public and potentially create adverse selection issues.

However, enrolment drives for these schemes can be carried out by the grievance nodal officer for this specific group. Aadhar-based incentives and welfare measures can be extended to domestic workers without skewing any separate measures for this sector alone.

Guidelines

The bill should articulate clear guidelines defining basic requirements (e.g. holidays, minimum wages, scope of work etc.) along with simple non-criminal laws with deterrent penalties in case of complaints. Adherence and awareness can be improved through special awareness drives in a more sustainable and ground-up level approach to improve welfare, adherence and the formalisation of employment.

Conclusion

The Karnataka government’s proposal will fail, hurting domestic workers most of all. It will further strain the state's overstretched capacity and negatively disrupt the labour market and households. Its sweeping approach could criminalise ordinary citizens.  In contrast, our recommendations avoid excessive state expenditure and capacity creation at state or judiciary level. It prevents a Hobbesian over-indulgence in private homes, and offers a better path to achieving positive outcomes for domestic workers.

(Kartik Singh and Anoop Gannerkote are thinkers of Public Policy at Takshashila Institution, Bangalore.)

Views are personal and do not represent the stand of this publication.