Gig Economy India 2020/2021: Platform Workers, Labour Rights and Social Security

Abstract

Over the past decade, there has been a shift in the traditional labour market with a rise in freelance and task-based economies. This is accelerated by the emergence of digital platforms, making it easier to connect job seekers with job providers at low cost and maximum flexibility. Gig work is associated with and connected to the economy’s widespread changes and does not remain an isolated trend. Advancements in technology and globalisation have pressured companies to respond swiftly to the changes in the market. From this point of view, the emergence of unconventional gig work is an underlying component of today’s world of work (Weil, 2019).

A gig economy is characterised by workers employed on a flexible, temporary, and contractual basis. There are various ways to define gig work depending on the nature of work, work arrangement, and legal framework. These different definitions lead to different gig workforce numbers (“What is a gig worker?”, 2020).The gig-economy can be broadly classified into service-based and knowledge-based gigs. Service-based gig consists of low to semi-skilled workers, such as delivery agents and those who offer services through work on-demand platforms. Knowledge-based gig work encompass semi to high skill jobs, such as that of consultants or data scientists. Gigs can be found at all levels of an organisation, differing from low to high skilled workers, part-time to full-time work - running the entire spectrum of pay scales (Frazer, 2019).

This report seeks to provide insights into the working conditions and rights of platform economy workers in India. The report gathers deep understanding from the WageIndicator Foundation’s “Platform Workers: Decent Rights and Pay” project’s survey data. In this regard, this report’s objective is to process, use, and offer target groups and action-oriented information that could fill in the knowledge gaps in the domains of rights, pays, and working conditions.