Labour Ministry pushes for shielding gig workers under e-Shram portal

Platform aggregators get 3 months to complete registration process

In a bid to ensure social security for gig and platform workers, the Ministry of Labour & Employment (MoLE) on Wednesday directed platform aggregators to register their workers on the e-Shram portal.

In a meeting chaired by Union Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, platform aggregators were asked to focus on developing a comprehensive framework to address the “unique” needs of their workforce, aiming to ensure that these workers have access to essential social security protections.

“The Union minister set the target for onboarding workers on the e-Shram portal within the next three months. He stressed that the workers' registration is crucial for extending further benefits under various government initiatives,” said the labour ministry in a statement.

Besides, the meeting also focussed on ensuring an inclusive framework for social security for gig and platform workers, as the government formed a dedicated committee so that views of all stakeholders can be obtained.

“This committee will deliberate on key issues and work towards establishing a robust social security framework for these workers,” the statement added.

A total of eight major platform aggregators, including Urban Company, Swiggy, Zomato and Blinkit, had joined the discussion along with industry bodies such as Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (Ficci) and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

“The idea is to map and identify the workers who are already registered on the e-Shram portal with the respective platform for which they work. Though the nature of gig work is quite flexible and dynamic, it will help us in getting an idea about the migration of these workers onto different platforms and their total number,” said an official who attended the meeting, requesting anonymity.

The meeting also focussed on listing the vacancies by the platform aggregators on the National Career Service (NCS) portal, which provides a variety of employment-related services for jobseekers and employers.

Work in progress

 A comprehensive framework to address the ‘unique’ needs of the gig workforce

 An inclusive social security structure for gig and platform workers

 Listing vacancies on the National Career Service  portal for ease of jobseekers and employers