India has granted legal status to millions of gig and platform workers under its newly implemented labor laws, marking a milestone for the country’s delivery, ride-hailing and e-commerce workforce — yet with benefits still unclear and platforms beginning to assess their obligations, access to social security remains out of reach.
The recognition stems from the Code on Social Security — one of four labor laws the Indian government brought into effect on Friday — more than five years after the parliament first passed them in 2020. It is the only part of the new framework that addresses gig and platform workers, as the remaining three codes — covering wages, industrial relations, and workplace safety — do not extend minimum earnings, employment protections or working-condition guarantees to this rapidly expanding workforce.
India has one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing gig economies, with industry estimates suggesting that more than 12 million people deliver food, drive ride-hailing cabs, sort e-commerce packages, and perform other on-demand services for digital platforms. The sector has become a critical source of employment, especially for young and migrant workers shut out of formal job markets, and is projected to expand further as companies scale logistics, retail, and hyperlocal delivery.
Companies from Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart to Indian quick-delivery apps such as Swiggy, Eternal’s Blinkit, and Zepto, as well as ride-hailing firms including Uber, Ola, and Rapido, rely on gig workers to run their businesses in the South Asian nation — the world’s second-largest internet and smartphone market after China. Yet despite powering some of India’s most valuable tech businesses, most gig workers operate outside traditional labor protections and lack access to basic social security.
The newly implemented labor laws are intended to change that, by defining gig and platform workers in statute and requiring aggregators, such as food-delivery and ride-hailing platforms, to contribute 1–2% of their annual revenue (capped at 5% of payments made to such workers) to a government-managed social security fund. But the details remain murky: what exact benefits will actually be offered, how workers will access them, and how contributions will be tracked across multiple platforms, and when payouts will begin all remain unclear, raising concerns that meaningful protections may take years to materialize.
A Zomato delivery boy moves through New Delhi Image Credits:Nasir Kachroo/NurPhoto / Getty Images
The Code on Social Security creates a legal framework for gig workers to be covered under schemes such as the Employees’ State Insurance, provident fund, and government-backed insurance. However, the extent of these benefits — including eligibility, contribution levels, and delivery mechanisms — remains unclear and will depend on future rules and scheme notifications.
A key part of the framework is the creation of Social Security Boards at both the central and state levels, tasked with designing and overseeing welfare schemes for gig and platform workers. The central board must include five representatives of gig and platform workers and five representatives of aggregators, all nominated by the government, alongside senior officials, experts, and state representatives, per the Code. But there is little clarity on how decisions will be made, how much influence worker representatives will actually have, or who will ultimately control decisions on funding and benefit delivery.
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“We need to wait and see what exactly is in the government’s mind when it comes to implementing the four Codes, and what it hopes to do for gig workers,” said Balaji Parthasarathy, a professor at IIIT Bangalore and principal investigator of the Fairwork India project. “And then we also have to see what the states translate on the ground.”
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