What is a Gig Worker? - Definition & Meaning

Context: As of 2025, India’s gig economy is projected to employ over 12 million workers, a number expected to increase further with urbanisation and digital penetration. The workers often work 10-12 hours daily, six or seven days a week, to meet basic needs. They are devoid of social security (i.e., no provident fund, no health insurance, and no pension). 

Relevance of the Topic: Mains: Gig workers: Challenges faced and government initiatives.

About gig workers

• Code on Social Security 2020 defines a gig worker as “a person who performs work or participates in a work arrangement and earns from such activities outside of traditional employer-employee relationship. 
• In this firms hire workers on a part-time flexible basis rather than as full-time employees.
• They can be broadly classified into platform and non-platform-based workers.
• Platform workers are individuals whose work is based on online software apps or digital platforms. For example, drivers for cab-hailing services like Uber or Ola, delivery workers of Zomato or Swiggy.
• While non-platform gig workers are generally casual wage workers and own-account workers in the conventional sectors, working part-time or full time. For example, home-based workers (such as handicrafts, tailoring, etc.) and domestic workers (maids, cooks, etc.)
• According to the report by NITI Aayog and IBEF, the gig workforce in India is 7.7 million and is expected to expand to 2.35 crore (23.5 million) workers by 2029-30.

Government initiative regrading gig workers

• Code of social security: Provides for the registration of all the Gig workers. 
  • It calls upon the Central and State Governments to formulate schemes to ensure social security benefits such as Insurance for the Gig workers. 
  • It also empowers the Government to set up Social Security Funds for their benefit. The contribution to these funds may be funded from contributions of Centre, State and aggregator platforms such as Uber, Zomato etc.
  • The National Social Security Board will be responsible for ensuring the well-being of gig economy workers and will consist of representatives from both aggregator companies and gig workers.
• e-shram portal: A centralised database of Unorganized Workers which will help to implement the social security services to them and share their information with various stakeholders for delivering the welfare schemes.
• The Rajasthan Platform Based Gig Workers (Registration and Welfare) Act 2023: A board will be set up to make sure gig workers register and receive support, addressing their weaknesses and giving them a way to bargain and negotiate together. The Act also includes a plan to create a social security fund, which will be funded by a fee on each transaction.
• PMJAY to Gig Workers: The Budget 2025 announced that gig workers will now be eligible for healthcare under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY). This move addresses gig workers' lack of income security and access to medical services.

Challenges faced by gig workers

• Social security:  Platform workers in India are predominantly paid a piece rate (i.e., Per task) and are classified by the platforms as “Independent contractors”. As a result, workers do not benefit from labour regulations pertaining to wages, hours, working conditions, and the right to collective bargaining.
• Safety and health risk: Due to the demanding work hours, drivers are physically exhausted, and exposed to an increased risk of road traffic accidents, especially due to the ‘10-minute delivery at the doorstep’ policy of certain e-commerce platforms.
• Algorithmic control: Platforms are criticised for having opaque algorithms, imposing excessive control over their workers through “ratings-based reputation systems”, assigning “disproportionate power” to customers over workers, and causing significant risk to workers who are unfairly penalised based on customer feedback.
• Modest pay: Many app-based cab drivers and delivery workers are having a hard time covering their costs because they're paid too little. For example, Blinkit pays a minimum of only Rs 15 for each delivery.
• Issues with labour codes: Among the four proposed new labour codes, only the Code on Social Security mentions gig work.
  • Despite receiving the assent of the President, the Labour Codes are still awaiting implementation 4 years on.

Way forward:

According to Niti Aayog: 

• Platformisation: Platform India initiative can be launched similar to Start-up India, to make platforms simpler and provide support through funding, incentives, skill development, and financial inclusion.
• Need regulations to ensure that companies establish fair and transparent payment structures to protect gig workers from being underpaid or exploited by companies.
• Platform-led models for skilling and job creation: In the gig and platform sector need promotion. Platforms can collaborate with the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) to nurture skilled workers and micro-entrepreneurship.
• Gender Sensitisation & Accessibility Awareness Programmes for workers and their families: Platform businesses can undertake partnerships with Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) to enable different sections of workers such as women workers and PwDs to take up employment opportunities in the platform sector through skill development, access to finance and assets.
• Occupational Disease and Work Accident Insurance: On the lines of Indonesia’s initiatives in offering accident and other insurance to platform workers, may adopt such a model for providing accident insurance to all delivery and driver partners, and other platform workers across India.
• RAISE Framework for Operationalizing the Code on Social Security (CoSS), 2020: As Central and State governments draw up rules and regulations under CoSS 2020, they could adopt the five-pronged RAISE approach to ensure realisation of full access to social security for all gig and platform workers: 
  • Recognise the varied nature of platform work to design equitable schemes.
  • Allow augmentation of social security through innovative financing mecha- nisms. 
  • Incorporate, while designing schemes, the specific interests of platforms, factoring the impact on job creation, platform businesses and workers.
  • Support workers to subscribe to government schemes and welfare programmes through widespread awareness campaigns. 
  • Ensure benefits are readily accessible to workers.