The centre is considering a social security policy for gig workers by next year’s union budget to provide them pension, healthcare and other welfare benefits. Union Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya stressed the platform workers need social security with a growing service industry.

“We cannot deprive them of their rights till the implementation of the Code. We have to bring a policy before that,” PTI quoted the minister as saying. Mandaviya said the ministry is in talks with the gig workers’ associations regarding a suitable nationwide security policy for them.

According to Niti Ayog’s 2022 report “India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy”, 77 lakh people were engaged in the gig economy in 2020-21. This number is expected to reach 2.35 crore by 2029-30. The report said that nearly half are engaged in medium-skilled work, 31 per cent in low, and 22 per cent in high-skilled jobs. The report highlighted the trend of reducing workers’ concentration in the medium-skill category.

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In 2020, online and gig workers were defined in the Code of Social Security for the first time. Here is what the code says:

Who Are Gig Workers?

‘Gig worker means a person who performs work or participates in a work arrangement and earns from such activities outside of traditional employer-employee relationship’.

Who Are Platform Workers?

‘Platform worker means a person engaged in or undertaking platform work’. As per the code, the ‘platform work means a work arrangement outside of a traditional employer-employee relationship in which organisations or individuals use an online platform to access other organisations or individuals to solve specific problems or to provide specific services or any such other activities which may be notified by the Central Government, in exchange for payment’.

Social Security:

According to the code, social security is defined as, ‘Social security means the measures of protection afforded to employees, unorganised workers, gig workers, and platform workers to ensure access to health care and to provide income security, particularly in cases of old age, unemployment, sickness, invalidity, work injury, maternity or loss of a breadwinner using rights conferred on them and schemes framed, under this Code.’

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According to Mandaviya, these workers play an important part in the growing service industry, and providing them social security for old age needs to be assured. The question is, who would pay for employers’ contributions to such workers? Suggestions like giving a unique identity number to such workers to provide them social security benefits, impose cess, collect contributions from the transactions, etc., have been received. However, the ministry is exploring all options and has formed a committee to develop a policy framework after considering suggestions from everyone concerned. The framework for it is expected to be announced before the budget in February next year.