Supreme Court agrees to examine if aggregator apps are violating gig workers’ fundamental rights

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The Supreme Court, on December 13, agreed to hear and examine a petition by gig workers of app-based aggregators which raise a plethora of issues, including a contention that the fundamental rights of these workers are in violation.

Fixing the next date for hearing in January 2022, the Supreme Court 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.

The petition filed by two persons employees as drivers in the aggregator platforms along with an association of transport workers employed by app-based platforms raises a question of “great public and constitutional importance” of whether the right to social security is a right for all working people regardless of whether they work in organised or unorganised sector.

The case mounted by the workers employed at Ola, Uber, Swiggy, and Zomato, revolves around their demand to recognise their engagement with the platforms as employer-employee relationship making them eligible to claim rights conferred on any person falling within the legal definition of a “workman”.

The association highlights that while these workers fall within the meaning of workers from the unorganised sector under the Unorganised Workers’ Social Welfare Security Act, 2008, the failure of the government to register them as such leads, not only to the violation of their fundamental rights but also enables their exploitation by the platforms that engage their services.

With keeping these workers outside of the purview of the Unorganised Workers Act, they are deprived of claiming social security benefits which violates their right to equality as well their right to life and livelihood.

As for the platforms, the workers’ association says that their engagement with the platforms is termed as a partnership or contractual engagement instead of an employment arrangement. This facilitates the platforms to refuse employee rights to the workman. However, the nature of engagement fulfils all criteria of an employment arrangement, it says.

The plea highlights that gig-workers are given employee rights in several foreign jurisdictions.

As such, the workers are praying for the Supreme Court to declare that the app-based aggregator platforms have violated the rights of the transport workers employed with them while the government has violated their right to social security.

The plea also urges for the recognition of these workers as part of the unorganised sector and for them to be conferred with all the benefits of relevant schemes, among other prayers for organising gig-workers and devising special schemes for their benefit.