Govt should create centralised authority for gig workers, says report

The government should create a centralised coordination authority between Centre and state governments for social protection of the gig and platform workers in the country, a study released on Wednesday said.

'Efficiently designing a social protection system that aligns with the needs of platform workers and the characteristics of the platform economy requires synchronised efforts. Uncoordinated policymaking at central and state governments may not just result in duplication of efforts, but also suboptimal use of limited resources. Additionally, this may also unnecessarily increase the compliance burden for the platform businesses resulting in higher cost of services, increasing cost of job creation, and restricting innovation at scale,' the report titled ‘Social Protection in India’s Platform Economy: Unpacking Supply Dynamics’ by Ola Mobility Institute (OMI) Foundation said.

Citing examples of similar bodies in developing countries, the report mentioned the national social protection committee in Jamaica, and national social protection secretariat in Kenya. 'Notably, CoSS 2020 (code on social security 2020) has tasked the central government to create a national board for the welfare of platform workers, and formulate policies and regulations on social protection for platform workers. Establishing a central coordinating authority thus is aligned with the vision of CoSS 2020,' it noted.

The report consulted with 10 platforms having nearly 4.5 million workers and a total revenue of Rs 56,400 crore along with two workforce providing platforms.

Further, the report recommended that the government should build a social protection system that benefits the workers irrespective of their state identity because due to the low entry barriers, large market access and income security, the platform work is preferred by many migrant workers.

'It will be useful to start with one uniform identity of a worker across India. UAN number through e-Shram portal provides that opportunity. Later, the government should enrol workers to the social protection schemes using the UAN number. These benefits could then become an essential social protection floor for platform workers with state benefits only providing a supplementary benefit to the workers,' the report says.

The report said the cost of comprehensive health insurance poses a significant barrier in providing such coverage to platform workers. 'The substantial rise in health insurance costs, combined with the preference of workers for immediate pay over long-term insurance contributions, creates financial viability challenges in offering comprehensive coverage to platform workers,' the report added.

Speaking at the launch of the report, Atul Kumar Tiwari, Secretary, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, said that skilling and upskilling is essential for gig and platform workers as it ensures their employability in the job market.

'Both social security and skilling have largely remained neglected children of policymaking till now, and it's time that we start looking at these measures as a means to create a resilient workforce to achieve the goals of a developed nation,' he added.