One Act and 3 Bills on, gig workers say there is progress, but not enough

Employer-employee relationship, work hours, wage guarantee, termination from work by platform remain pressing concerns

With the publication of Telangana Gig and Platform Workers (Registration, Social Security and Welfare) Bill, 2025, Telangana is all set to join the list of states with a legislation to ensure social security, and regulate working conditions for gig workers. 

 

The only state to currently have a gig workers Act in place is Rajasthan. The state assembly had passed the Rajasthan Platform Based Gig Workers (Registration and Welfare) Act in July 2023. In Karnataka and Jharkhand, the Cabinet has cleared the respective Bills. They are expected to be introduced in the Monsoon session of the assemblies. 

 

These developments point to increasing state-level efforts to bring India’s gig workers under some form of welfare net. While they see these developments as welcome efforts, gig workers’ unions say they are, at the same time, insufficient. For many worker unions, and gig workers themselves, these welfare boards and registration drives are only partial answers to deeper issues of recognition, accountability, and rights.

   

These efforts by states are also seen as a follow-up after the central government introduced the Code on Social Security in 2020, which, for the first time, tried to include gig workers under the legal ambit.  

 

Section 2(35) of the Code defines a ‘gig worker’ as someone who performs tasks or participates in work arrangements and earns from such activities outside of traditional employer-employee relationship.

 

Sunand, president of the Rajdhani App-Based Workers’ Union who goes by only his first name, says the state Bills are similar to the social security code. Neither the code nor the Bills, he says, talk about the kind of welfare schemes that will be implemented and where the money for these schemes will come from.

 

For gig workers, fixed working hours, a guarantee of sufficient wages within that period, and ID blocking or termination from work by the platform at will are the most pressing issues. “Platforms have undue control over workers,” says Sunand. “These issues of algorithmic control and arbitrary deactivation directly affect workers’ livelihoods, yet remain absent from the legal discourse.”

 

Shaik Salauddin, national general secretary of the Indian Federation of App-Based Transport Workers, and president of the Telangana Gig and Platform Workers’ Union, also says there are missing links in the Telangana Bill, and the issue of wages are not addressed in it. 

 

That said, Salauddin considers the Telangana Bill to be better than others. “Grievance redressal mechanism is better in this Bill; the time to lodge complaints is mentioned. There is a provision of penalty as well,” says Salauddin. 

 

Sunand echoes the same sentiment: “There is greater government monitoring of platforms in the Telangana and Jharkhand Bills.”

 

Employer-employee relationship at the core

 

The social security code explicitly states that gig workers fall outside of traditional employer-employee relationships. At the heart of the dissatisfaction is this broader structural issue. 

 

The unions highlight that none of the Bills consider gig workers as employees of a company. All legislation focuses on welfare boards, registration, and modest benefits such as accident insurance or health schemes. They stop short of challenging the aggregator platforms’ insistence that gig workers are “partners” or “independent contractors”. 

 

“Gig workers should come under traditional employer-employee relationships, and platforms should work as traditional employers. This is the core problem. Unless this is resolved, other things don’t matter,” says Sunand.

 

A traditional employer-employee relationship is a structured, long-term one between the employer and employee, with the employee getting certain benefits such as gratuity and provident fund (PF).  

 

Sunand says since governments are not addressing the core problems of wages, working hours and blocking, there has been minimal resistance from the companies, except in Karnataka, where gig workers appear to have been equated with traditional employees.  

 

Industry body the National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom) issued a statement highlighting this concern around the Karnataka Bill: “It assumes gig work to be a part of employer-employee relationship, which risks unsettling the conceptual and legal basis of gig work. This assumption is core of the Bill and basis this, it prescribes several obligations, which may be relevant only in an employer-employee relationship.”

 

Uber, one of the largest players in India’s ride-hailing and gig economy sector, said it is engaging with state-level policymakers as new laws take shape. It called for consistency, operational clarity, and inclusivity across the ecosystem in emerging frameworks. “We look forward to ongoing dialogue with governments at all levels and remain committed to constructive engagement on matters concerning the platform economy,” a spokesperson of the company said. 

States and gig workers

 

Feature	Telangana (draft Bill)	Karnataka (draft Bill)	Jharkhand (draft Bill)	Rajasthan (Act)
Definition of gig worker	Work arrangement falling outside the traditional employer-employee relationship	Work through an online platform, with pay determined by terms and conditions	Work falls outside the traditional employer-employee relationship, obtained through an online platform, contractual, piece-rate	Work falls outside the traditional employer-employee relationship, obtained through an online platform, contractual, piece-rate
Platform worker’s definition	Persons obtaining work through an online platform	No distinction between a gig worker and platform worker	No distinction between a gig worker and platform worker	No distinction between a gig worker and platform worker
Rights	Registration, social security schemes, and grievance redressal mechanism	Registration, social security schemes, and grievance redressal mechanism	Registration, social security schemes, and grievance redressal mechanism	Registration, social security schemes, grievance redressal mechanism, participation in board discussions
Gig worker registration	Self-registration as prescribed.  Aggregators provide a database of workers registered with them within 60 days from commencement of the Act	Workers must be registered by aggregators within 60 days from commencement of the Act	Workers must be registered by aggregators within 60 days from commencement of the Act	Workers must be registered by aggregators within 60 days from commencement of the Act
Aggregators registration	Must register within 45 days from the commencement of the Act	Must register within 60 days from commencement of the Act	Must register within 60 days from commencement of the Act	Must register within 60 days from commencement of the Act
Algorithm transparency	Aggregators must inform workers about how to access information on automated systems that monitor and affect their work	Aggregators must inform workers about: (i) rating systems, (ii) worker classification, (iii) use of personal data, and algorithms affecting work conditions	Aggregators must inform workers about: (i) rating systems, (ii) worker classification, (iii) use of personal data, and algorithms affecting work conditions	No provision for transparency in automated monitoring and decision-making systems
Termination of work	Reason for termination must be given in writing, with a seven-day prior notice	Reasons must be included in the contract, and a 14-day prior notice	Reasons must be included in the contract, and a 14-day prior notice	No provision for termination of work
Grievance redressal	Grievances can be filed via a portal or through an officer. Order within 30 days	Grievances can be filed via a portal or an officer. Appeals within 90 days	Grievances can be filed via a portal or an officer. Appeals within 90 days	Grievances can be filed via a portal or an officer. Appeals within 90 days
Welfare fee	1 to 2% of the individual payout to the gig worker, paid by the aggregator quarterly	Based on worker pay per transaction or aggregator turnover, paid quarterly	Percentage of transaction value, as specified by the state government	Percentage of transaction value, as specified by the state government
Sources of fund	Welfare fund fee, contributions by platform and workers, grants-in-aid from the Centre and state government, CSR fund, grants, gifts, or donations	Welfare fee, contributions by platform-based gig workers, grants-in-aid from both central and state government, grants, bequests or transfers	Welfare fee, contributions by platform-based gig workers, grants-in-aid from both central and state government, grants, bequests or transfers	Welfare fee, grants-in-aid from state government, any other sources
Usage of fund	Not specified	Prescribed by the state government	Prescribed by the state government	Prescribed by the state government
Source : PRS Legislative Research

 

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The writer is a Business Standard-Rahul Khullar journalism intern.