Labour code requirements: Firms seek more time to upload gig workers' data

Digital platforms have sought additional time beyond the June 21 deadline to upload gig worker data to the eShram portal, citing operational and technical challenges

Citing operational and technical challenges in collating and verifying the data on gig and platform workers, major digital platforms have sought time beyond June 21 to comply with a labour-Code provision that requires aggregators to furnish details regarding them, according to officials familiar with the matter.

 

The provision is part of the framework being developed under the Code on Social Security, 2020, which seeks to give social-security benefits to people working in this app-driven segment.

 

Aggregators are required to give details of workers engaged through their platforms on a portal being developed by the Union labour ministry.

 

Officials said the database would help identify beneficiaries and facilitate social-security schemes, including measures such as life and disability cover, health benefits, old-age protection, and other assistance.

 

Several platforms have told the government that they might need more time to complete collating, verifying and uploading information, said officials.

 

The request comes ahead of the June 21 deadline notified by the ministry through a circular issued on June 1. It had directed aggregators to complete the process.

 

Issued pursuant to Rule 48(2) of the Social Security (Central) Rules, 2026, the circular requires platforms to give details electronically.

 

Among large platforms, Eternal, the parent company of Zomato and Blinkit, has completed the compliance process, said a senior official.

 

Swiggy and Uber are doing it and are expected to submit the information soon, the official added.

 

Emails sent to Eternal, Swiggy and Uber remained unanswered until the time of going to press.

 

The Code mandates an aggregator to contribute 1-2 per cent of its annual turnover for this, with a cap of 5 per cent of the amount paid to workers.

 

The Centre is stepping up efforts to formalise and extend social security to gig and platform workers, a segment that has grown rapidly with the expansion of app-based services.

 

Over the past few years, the government has brought gig workers within the ambit of the eShram portal, recognised them as a category under the Code on Social Security, 2020, notified the Social Security (Central) Rules, 2026, to operationalise the framework, and announced social-security measures, including health coverage under PM Jan Arogya Yojana.

 

Officials said a comprehensive database was a necessary first step in implementing welfare schemes and ensuring that benefits reached eligible workers. 

Separately, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 19 will disburse incentives worth ₹2,400 crore through direct benefit transfer (DBT) to more than 1.5 million beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Viksit Bharat Rojgar Yojana (PM-VBRY), Labour and Employment Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Thursday.

 

The event will be at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, and will be broadcast live to programmes being organised across 200 industrial clusters in the country.

 

Modi will also interact with select first-time employees and employers who have benefited under the scheme.

 

Mandaviya said since August last year more than 6.3 million first-time employees entered the formal workforce under the scheme, and nearly 30 per cent of them were women.

 

Over 80 per cent of establishments receiving incentives under the employer component were small enterprises with fewer than 25 workers, he added.

 

The PM-VBRY, which aims to incentivise formal job creation, has an outlay of ₹99,446 crore and targets creating 35 million jobs over two years. Under the scheme, first-time employees are eligible for benefits of up to ₹15,000, while employers can receive incentives of up to ₹3,000 per additional worker hired per month. 

Compliance hurdle 

• Firms cited operational and technical challenges in collating and verifying worker data
• Provision part of framework being developed under the Code on Social Security, 2020
• Request comes ahead of a June 21 deadline
• Exercise part of government’s efforts to operationalise social security provisions for gig workers