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, bidding and e-commerce workforce – but with benefits still unclear and platforms beginning to assess their obligations, access to social security remains out of reach.
The recognition comes from the Code on Social Security – one of four labor laws that the Indian government put into effect on Friday – more than five years after 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, working conditions and workplace safety – do not guarantee the protection of this workforce or a fast-paced 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 taxis, sort e-commerce packages and perform other on-demand services for digital platforms. The sector has become a critical source of employment, particularly for youth and migrant workers locked out of formal labor markets, and is expected to expand further as companies scale logistics, retail and hyperlocal delivery.
Companies from Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart to Indian fast-delivery apps such as Swiggy, Eternal’s Blinkit and Zepto, as well as hospitality companies 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. But despite running some of India’s most valuable technology companies, most gig workers operate outside traditional labor protections and lack access to basic social security.
The recently implemented labor laws aim to change that by defining gig and platform workers in statutes and requiring aggregators, such as food delivery and ride-hailing platforms, to contribute 1-2% of their annual revenue (capped at 5% of payments to such workers) to a state-run social security fund. But the details remain unclear: 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 could take years to materialize.
The Social Security Code creates a legal framework for gig workers who may be covered by schemes such as employees’ state insurance, provident fund and state-supported insurance. However, the extent of these benefits – including eligibility, contribution levels and delivery mechanisms – remains unclear and will depend on future regulations and scheme announcements.
A key part of the framework is the creation of Social Security Boards at both the central and state levels, which are tasked with designing and overseeing welfare schemes for gig and platform workers. The Central Board shall include five representatives of gig and platform workers and five representatives of aggregators, all nominated by the government, along with senior officials, experts and state representatives as per the code. But there is little clarity about how decisions will be made, how much influence worker representatives will actually have, or who will ultimately control decisions about funding and service delivery.
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“We have to wait and see what exactly is on 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.”
Parthasarathy noted that because labor policy in India is shared between the federal and state governments—listed in the “concurrent list” of the Indian constitution—the state governments are responsible for designing, notifying and administering many of the schemes necessary to make the social security code operational for gig workers.
That raises the possibility of uneven access, as some states move quickly to establish social security boards and roll out mechanisms, while others delay or de-prioritize efforts due to political or fiscal constraints. Recent examples — such as Rajasthan’s stalled legislation after it passed in 2023, and Karnataka’s Gig Workers Act, which was implemented shortly after clearing the state assembly — underscore how workers’ protections can ultimately depend on where they live, rather than the law itself.
Platform companies have publicly welcomed the reform, but are still largely assessing what it will require of them. An Amazon India spokesperson told TechCrunch that the company supports the Indian government’s intent behind the labor audit and is evaluating the changes it will need to introduce. A spokesperson for Zepto said the company welcomes the new labor laws as “a big step towards clearer, simpler rules that protect workers while supporting the ease of doing business,” adding that the changes will help strengthen social security for its delivery partners without undermining the flexibility that fast-moving trade relies on.
Food delivery company Eternal, formerly known as Zomato, said in a stock exchange filing that the Social Security Code is a step towards more uniform rules and that it does not expect the financial impact to threaten its long-term business.
Nevertheless, Aprajita Rana, a partner at corporate law firm AZB & Partners, said the change “will obviously have an economic impact” on India’s e-commerce sector as employee contributions are now being formalized. It will also create new compliance obligations, requiring companies to ensure that all workers in their network are registered with the state-run fund, determine whether individuals are connected to multiple aggregators and how to avoid duplicative benefits, and set up internal grievance mechanisms.
“While the law has the right intent, structures for gig workers in India are fairly new and practical challenges in terms of compliance will emerge as the law comes into force,” Rana told TechCrunch.
One of the biggest hurdles for gig workers seeking benefits under the newly implemented law will be registration on the Indian government’s E-Shram portal, launched in 2021 as a national database of unorganized workers. The portal had registered more than 300,000 platform workers by the end of August, although the government estimates India’s gig workforce at around 10 million. Unions, including the Indian Federation of App-based Transport Workers (IFAT), which has more than 70,000 members, are working to help gig workers register so they can access benefits.
Ambika Tandon, a PhD candidate at the University of Cambridge and associated with the national trade union Center of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), said registering on the portal could mean lost wages for gig workers as they would have to take time off to fill in the necessary details.
“These workers work for 16 hours a day,” she told TechCrunch. “They don’t have time to go and register on the government portal.”
CITU is also among ten major Indian unions calling for the withdrawal of the new labor laws, ahead of nationwide protests planned for Wednesday.
The benefits of registering on the E-Shram portal aren’t compelling to many gig workers, Tandon noted, because the law doesn’t address more immediate concerns such as fluctuating earnings, account suspensions and sudden account terminations — issues workers say matter far more right now than access to insurance or provident fund benefits.
Unions often organize strikes to push platforms to address these concerns directly. However, such actions can upset everyone involved, including consumers, and put workers at further risk as they are not paid while on strike and may even risk being fired for participating.
“While the social security rules are now in place, we are demanding a minimum wage and employer-employee ratio for gig and platform workers, which is yet to be set by the government,” said Shaik Salauddin, founder of the Telangana Gig and Platform Workers Union (TGPWU), which has more than 10,000 members, Telangana, IF, general secretariat. “We urge the government to obtain data from aggregators and secure their monetary contribution to the fund to start offering benefits to workers.”
There is a wider debate about whether gig workers should be treated as employees – an issue that the new labor legislation does not address. The Social Security Code defines gig and platform workers as a separate category rather than extending them the rights and protections that come with employee status. In contrast, courts and regulators in markets such as the UK, Spain and New Zealand have moved to recognize platform workers as employees or “workers”, entitled to minimum wages, paid leave and other benefits. In some US jurisdictions, regulators and courts have pushed for platform workers to be treated as employees or similarly protected workers, although many ride-hailing and delivery drivers remain classified as independent contractors.
“With this law, the Indian government has settled that debate by saying that these gig workers are not within the scope of employment or other protections,” Tandon said.
India’s labor ministry did not respond to a request for comment.