As of 2025, India’s gig economy is going to employ around 12 million workers, a number estimated to increase further with urbanisation and digital penetration. The workers usually work 10-12 hours daily, six or seven days a week, to meet basic requirements. They are devoid of social security (i.e., no provident fund, no health insurance, and no pension).
About Gig workers
Code on Social Security 2020 defines a gig worker as “a person who performs work or engages in a work arrangement and earns from such activities outside of a traditional employer-employee relationship. In these industries and platforms hire workers are hired on a part-time, flexible basis instead of as full-time employees.
According to the report by NITI Aayog and IBEF, the gig workforce in India is 7.7 million and will expand to 2.35 crore (23.5 million) workers by 2029-30.
Significance of Gig workers
(i) Job Creation and Economic Growth:
(a) Reports suggest that the gig economy could generate 90 million jobs in India’s non-agricultural economy and contribute 1.25% to India’s GDP by 2030.
(b) The gig economy offers a pathway for skill development and workforce integration, especially for younger and less experienced individuals.
(c) It provides alternative income streams and greater financial independence, particularly for women and those in less developed areas.
(ii) Flexibility and Autonomy for Workers:
(a) Gig work allows individuals to choose their hours, projects, and clients, offering greater flexibility and control over their work-life balance.
(b) This is particularly appealing to students, parents, and those seeking supplementary income.
(iii) Benefits for Businesses:
(a) Businesses can access a diverse and flexible workforce, scaling up or down according to demand.
(b) Gig work can be a cost-effective alternative to traditional employment, reducing overhead expenses like benefits and healthcare.
(c) It allows businesses to hire specialized skills for specific projects, increasing agility and responsiveness.
Government initiative regarding gig workers
(i) Code of social security: Provides for the registration of all the Gig workers. (a) Central and State Governments to formulate schemes to ensure social security benefits, such as Insurance for the Gig workers.
(ii) e-shram portal: A centralised database of unorganised workers, which will help to implement the social security services for them. Also, share their information with various stakeholders for delivering the welfare schemes.
(iii) PMJAY to Gig Workers: This Budget announced that they will be eligible for healthcare under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana. This move addresses gig workers’ lack of income security and access to medical services.
Challenges faced by gig workers
(i) Social security: Platform workers in India are predominantly paid a piece rate (i.e., per task) and are classified by the platforms as “Independent contractors”. As a result, workers do not benefit from labour regulations. This includes wages, hours, working conditions, and the right to collective bargaining.
(ii) Safety and health risk: Due to the demanding work hours, drivers are physically exhausted. Also, exposed to an increased risk of road traffic accidents. It is especially due to the ‘10-minute delivery at the doorstep’ policy of certain e-commerce platforms.
(iii) Algorithmic control: Platforms are criticised for having opaque algorithms, imposing excessive control over their workers. All this happens by “ratings-based reputation systems”, assigning “disproportionate power” to customers over workers. Also, causing significant risk to workers who are unfairly penalised based on customer feedback.
(iv) Modest pay: Many app-based cab drivers and delivery workers struggle to cover their costs because they get less money. For example, Blinkit pays a minimum of only Rs 15 for each delivery.
(v) Issues with labour codes: Among the four proposed labour codes, only the Code on Social Security mentions gig work. Despite receiving the assent of the President, the Labour Codes are still awaiting implementation 4 years on.
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Way forward (NITI AYOG’s recommendation)
(i) Platformisation: The Platform India initiative can be launched in line with the Start-up India initiative. It makes platforms easy to use and provides financial support, incentives, skill development, and financial inclusion.
(ii) Platform-led models for skilling and job creation: The gig and platform sector needs promotion. Platforms can collaborate with the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and the National Skill Development Corporation. As it can nurture skilled workers and micro-entrepreneurship.
(iii) Gender Sensitisation & Accessibility Awareness Programmes for workers and their families: Platform businesses can undertake partnerships with Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) to enable different sections of workers, such as women workers and PwDs, to take up employment opportunities in the platform sector through skill development, access to finance and assets.
(iv) Occupational Disease and Work Accident Insurance: On the lines of Indonesia’s initiatives in offering accident and other insurance to platform workers, may adopt such a model for providing accident insurance to all delivery and driver partners, and other platform workers across India.
(v) RAISE Framework for Operationalizing the Code on Social Security (CoSS), 2020: RAISE approach to ensure realisation of full access to social security for all gig and platform workers:
(a) Recognise the varied nature of platform work to design equitable schemes.
(b) Allow augmentation of social security through innovative financing mechanisms.
(c) Incorporate, while designing schemes, the specific interests of platforms, factoring in the impact on job creation, platform businesses, and workers.
(d) Support workers to subscribe to government schemes and welfare programmes through widespread awareness campaigns.
(e) Ensure benefits are readily accessible to workers.
Conclusion
A balanced approach that fosters innovation and flexibility, while ensuring basic protections and favourable working conditions, is required for creating an inclusive and secure environment for gig workers in the future. Convergence between policymakers, businesses, and the workers themselves will be very important in building a fair and equitable system. There should be a balance between flexibility and security. Therefore, ensuring that gig workers in India can thrive in the evolving economy while having their rights fully protected.