Gig workers find their voice: Push grows for welfare and protections

Back-to-back service sector strikes underline rising worker assertion in the gig economy and test whether new labour reforms can deliver real security

Three nationwide strikes in the services sector within a space of less than three months are worth noting, even if it is a coincidence that these unionised protests came back to back.

 

The first round of agitation originated at quick commerce companies during the peak holiday season at the end of 2025. On New Year’s eve, hundreds of delivery partners stayed away from work, putting a brake on their drill of sourcing ordered items from dark stores and rushing to the customer’s doorstep, all in 10 minutes or less. The strike was meant to demand better working conditions, higher wages and an end to quick commerce, which has come to be synonymous with 10-minute delivery — a major hit in India. Stepping in to address the issues raised by delivery workers, the government offered a solution: Companies should not use 10-minute delivery as a marketing or a branding tool. Since then, workers are back on the road trying to meet the mandated deadline to deliver orders, even though companies appear to be guarded in promising a time-band for delivery.

 

 The second instance of a strike was at public-sector banks across the country on January 27. The United Forum of Bank Unions called for the strike, demanding a five-day workweek in banks. Currently, banks are closed on alternate Saturdays and all Sundays. Government approval for a bank holiday on all Saturdays has remained pending for long. While the strike significantly affected operations at bank branches, the overall impact was diluted because of the large-scale use of digital transactions.

 

The third strike was in the mobility space. Drivers (or driver partners as they are called) at cab aggregator platforms such as Uber, Ola, Rapido, and others — a lifeline for tens of thousands in big and not so big cities — went on strike last Saturday, asking for fixing of minimum base fares and an end to misuse of private vehicles for commercial rides. The strike call came from the Telangana Gig and Platform Workers Union (TGPWU), calling the six-hour agitation an “All India Breakdown”.  Even as the Motor Vehicle Aggregator Guidelines are in place, ride-hailing platforms decide fares on their own, TGPWU alleged. At the centre of the

 

grievance was the concern around income uncertainty. 

 

 What is noteworthy is that two of the three strikes are related to the gig economy, a centrepiece of the new labour Codes, with prominent mention in the Economic Survey 2025-26 and the Union Budget 2026-27.

 

 The labour Codes, which were notified in November 2025 some five years after Parliament approval, granted formal recognition to gig and platform workers in legislation. With it came the promise of social security benefits, including insurance for gig workers. Platform owners and aggregators were mandated to contribute a small portion of their annual turnover for setting up a social security fund for gig workers.

 

Even as the labour Codes unleashed the process of reforms, delivery workers sought to end the quick-commerce model soon after, sending shockwaves across many online platforms. Perhaps, that was a sign of the gig space getting empowered, following one of the biggest government reforms of the time. Alongside, it also carried a message for the online platform owners, that they should not take workers for granted.

 

 Just as the delivery workers’ strike had almost coincided with the action on labour Codes, cab aggregators’ off-the-road agitation followed the pronouncements on gig workers in the Economic Survey and the Union Budget.

 

 The Survey stressed the need for a policy to take forward the labour Codes’ intent to improve working conditions for gig workers, while pointing out that around 40 per cent of gig workers earn less than ₹15,000 a month. It also flagged the concentration of power with platform owners — a point that gig workers raised in both their recent strikes. While acknowledging the benefits under the Code on social security (part of the labour Codes) for gig workers, the Survey expressed concerns over the categorisation of workers, among other issues. The new law has bunched gig and platform workers under one category. The Survey argued that this workforce is “highly segmented by skill’’, suggesting that it may not be a case for a one-size-fits-all rulebook.

 

 The Union Budget 2026-27 built on the labour reforms announced in 2025, by introducing identity cards and healthcare coverage for gig workers, estimated at around 10 million in the country. “Gig workers on online platforms play a vital role in driving India’s new age services economy…..,’’ Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in her speech while announcing measures for their registration on the e-Shram portal along with other welfare steps.

 

 The six-hour strike by drivers also coincided with the launch of Bharat Taxi — the first driver-owned and government-backed cooperative ride-hailing platform, sending out feelers of a new wave of competition and possibly disruption.

 

 Will the gig economy, with all its vulnerabilities, be in a better place with new competition, including those backed by the government, coming in? And will the promise of labour welfare be enough to make strikes, as witnessed recently, unnecessary?