In India, almost three million workers are gig workers and 56% of the new employment is generated by the gig economy.

The PIL, filed for the first time in India, claims that companies who are currently one of the largest employers of gig workers in the country do not make an employment contract with the workers at the time of recruitment, but, instead, classify them as ‘partners’, which includes fewer benefits and little control over the wages. “The mere fact that their employers call themselves “Aggregators” and enter into so-called “partnership agreements” does not take away from the fact that there exists a jural relationship of employer and employee between them”, it argues.

The petition makes 14 demands to the Supreme Court. The main one is for an order to declare “gig workers” as “wage workers” within the meaning of the Sections of the Unorganised Workers’ Social Welfare Security Act, 2008. The petitioners also aim to secure specific schemes, in pursuance of obtaining increased protection of gig workers, including maternity benefits, pension, health insurance, vaccination against COVID-19 at the company’s expense, old age assistance, disability allowance, and more, conventionally available under existing statutes such as the Workmen’s Compensation Act, 1923, the Employees’ State Insurance Act, 1948, the Employees’ Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952.

The PIL underlines that the term ‘gig worker’ or ‘partner’ was not officially recognised by any Indian legislation and hence food delivery riders, and drivers on aggregator apps such as Ola and Uber aren’t eligible for government grants of welfare.

The Indian parliament has enacted the Code on Social Security 2020 in order to amend existing legislations that addressed unorganised workers with no employment contracts.

For the first time, the Social Security Code 2020 classified “gig workers” and “platform workers” as unorganised workers. However, this Code of 2020 is yet to be enacted in India. 

Separately, India recently launched the eShram portal, a national database of unorganised workers which seeks to address the 38 crore unorganised workers in India with social welfare grants. This portal extends the benefits of the social security schemes to any registered worker who is working in unorganised sector and aged between 16-59 (migrant workers, gig workers, platform workers, agricultural workers, MGNREGA workers, Fishermen, Milkmen, ASHA workers, Anganwadi workers, Street Vendors, Domestic workers). It is the first-ever national database of Unorganised workers including gig and platform workers.