Govt may ask aggregators to pay 2% of gig workers' income towards pension

To enhance the welfare of gig workers, the government is considering collecting an amount equivalent to 2 per cent of each of their incomes from platform aggregators they are attached to — as contribution to a proposed pension scheme for this labour segment. 

All major platform aggregators such as Swiggy, Zomato, Uber, and Blinkit are likely to contribute to the pension fund.

“This amount will not be inclusive of their incomes. It will be over and above that. A platform aggregator will collect the amount and deposit it with the Employee Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) into the account of the worker. We hope the scheme will be unveiled in the next two-three weeks,” said a source.

  This pension scheme comes in the wake of Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announcing, in her Budget speech in February, health coverage for gig workers under the PM Jan Arogya Yojana.

  Discussions on this with stakeholders are underway. They are state labour ministers, gig workers’ unions, and aggregators. Under this scheme, workers will first register themselves on the E-Shram portal and declare the number of platforms they work with. Following verification, they will be allotted a universal account number (UAN)

under the EPFO.

  “Under this pension scheme, if a worker who works with a quick commerce platform earns ₹15 on every transaction performed, its employer will be depositing 2 per cent of this amount (30 paise) under the single UAN with the EPFO,” the source said.

The source said there were around 10 million gig workers in 2025. Of those, nearly 3.5 million are working for online platforms.

  “Eleven aggregators have reported 3.5 million gig workers who have worked with them for the past 90 days.”

  Shaik Salauddin, national general secretary, Indian Federation of App-Based Transport Workers, said for the pension scheme to be effective, aggregator companies must share data on gig and platform workers with the government rather than asking workers to register.

  “Without mandatory data sharing with the E-Shram portal, many workers will be unable to access these benefits. Registration alone will not suffice to ensure that gig workers can access gains from these initiatives,” he added.

 

RIDING TOWARDS SOCIAL SECURITY

 

10 mn Total gig workers in India

  3.5 mn Worked for 11 online aggregators for past 90 days

  Registration with E-Shram portal mandatory for gig workers to get pension 

Pension contribution will be made by all platform aggregators, including Swiggy, Zomato, Uber, and Blinkit