Gig Workers Missing from PLFS

Context: The Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), India's primary source for labor statistics, lacks a clear classification of Gig Workers. Gig workers are subsumed under broad categories such as ‘self-employed’, ‘own-account workers’, or ‘casual labour’ in the PLFS. This leads to their under-representation in official data.

Gig Workers: 

• Gig workers were first incorporated into the legal framework through the Code on Social Security 2020. 
• The Code on Social Security defines a Gig Worker as a person who participates in a work arrangement and earns from such activities outside of a traditional employer-employee relationship. The above definition separates gig workers from both formal and informal categories.
• The Code on Social Security, 2020 defines Platform Work as 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.
• According to NITI Aayog’s 2022 report ‘India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy,’ the gig workforce is expected to reach 23.5 million by 2029-30. Presently around 77 lakh workers (1.5% of workforce) are employed in the Gig Economy and it is expected to increase to 2.35 crore workers by 2029-30.

Gig Workers face multifaceted challenges such as: 

• Non-recognition of workers as employees
• Job and income insecurity 
• High commission and unfair penalties charged by platform companies 
• Lack of social security
• Inability to form trade unions, lack of career growth and skill upgradation etc.

Lack of clear classification of Gig Workers in PLFS: 

• One of the major challenges is lack of clear classification of Gig Workers in India’s primary labour statistics source, the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS).
• Gig workers are subsumed under broad categories such as ‘self-employed’, ‘own-account workers’, or ‘casual labour’ in the PLFS.

It has following implications:  

• Lack of a distinct category leads to statistical invisibility, making gig workers’ vulnerabilities and working conditions under-represented in official data.
• Social protection schemes under the Code on Social Security, 2020 such as the Social Security Fund and the National Social Security Board depend on PLFS data for evidence-based policy making. However, absence of a distinct classification for gig and platform workers in the PLFS undermines the goal of evidence-based policymaking. Inaccurate classification results in uneven access to welfare schemes and exclusion errors.

The 2025 PLFS revision introduced some important updates: a larger sample size, monthly estimates, and better rural representation. However, it still does not address the issues of how gig work is defined and understood.

In response to a query in Rajya Sabha, the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation stated, “No update in the PLFS Schedule has been undertaken with the objective of specifically identifying persons engaged in the gig economy”. 

However, all market activities performed for pay or profit, including gig work, fall under the scope of economic activity in the PLFS. Anyone engaged in such work during the reference period is considered employed. 

Way Forward

NITI Aayog in its report titled “India’s booming Gig and Platform economy” has given following recommendations: 

• Official labour survey reports such as PLFS should collect data related to Gig Workers.
• Launch Platform India Initiative on the lines of the Start-up India to provide handholding, funding support, skill development etc. to Gig Workers.
• Accelerate financial inclusion: Unsecured loans to first-time borrowers may be classified as Priority Sector Lending.
• Skilling and Issuance of skill certificates by platform companies to enhance employability of Gig Workers.
• Enhancing Social Inclusion: Platform businesses should partner with NGOs to employ women and people belonging to vulnerable sections.
• Enhancing Social Security: E.g., Provide Paid Sick Leave and Occupational Disease and Work Accident Insurance on the lines of Indonesia’s model.

Also Read: What is a Gig Worker? - Definition & Meaning