India’s Booming Gig and
Platform Economy
Perspectives and Recommendations on
the Future of Work

India’s Booming Gig and
Platform Economy
Perspectives and Recommendations on
the Future of Work

June 2022

NITI AAYOG & EXPERT RESEARCH TEAMSSkill Development & Employment (SDE) Vertical Team, NITI Aayog
Dr. K. Rajeswara Rao

Special Secretary

Sh. Kundan Kumar

Adviser

Sh. Rajesh Gupta

Director

Dr. Sakshi Khurana

Consultant

Sh. Kailash Nath Verma

Research Officer

Sh. Satish Chandra

Economic Officer

Ms. Rashmi Ranjana Singh

Young Professional

Ms. Oshin Dharap

Young Professional

Expert Research TeamDr. Sakshi Khurana

Consultant, Skill Development, &Employment, NITI Aayog

sakshi.khurana@gov.in

Dr. S.K. Sasikumar

Former Senior Fellow, V. V. Giri National
Labour Institutesasikumarsk2@gmail.com

Dr. Vinoj Abraham

Professor, Centre for Development Studies,
Thiruvananthapuram

vinojabraham@gmail.com

Dr. Balakrushna Padhi

Assistant Professor, BITS-Pilani, Rajasthanpadhicds@gmail.com

Communications Team, NITI Aayog
Ms. Indrani Dasgupta

Consultant (Editor)

Ms. Saloni Sachdeva

Young Professional

Suggested Citation
NITI Aayog. (2022). India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations
on the Future of Work. June, 2022.
Copyright@ NITI Aayog, 2022 NITI Aayog Government of India, Sansad Marg, New Delhi - 110001, India
Report and Cover Design by YAAP
Every care has been taken to provide the correct and up to date information along with references
thereof. However, NITI Aayog shall not be liable for any loss or damage whatsoever, including incidental
or consequential loss or damage, arising out of, or in connection with any use of or reliance on theinformation in this document. In case of any doubt or query, readers are requested to refer to thereference section and footnotes. Readers of this document should be aware that the document may
be subject to revisions. Any suggestion/input may please be sent to sakshi.khurana@gov.in

MESSAGE FROM
VICE CHAIRMAN
The pace of digitalisation has grown rapidly around the world, transforming societies andushering in a new economic revolution with significant implications for the future of workand employment. India’s twin advantages of having a favourable demographic structure andthe rapid proliferation of digital technologies position it to be at the forefront of this economic
revolution.
The gig-platform economy is at the core of this unfolding paradigm shift. ILO’s 2021 World
Employment and Social Outlook Report states that the number of digital labour platforms
have grown fivefold over the last decade. Digital platforms offer innovative solutions in different
sectors such as transport, retail, personal and home care. They provide promising income
opportunities to workers with different skill sets and wider market access to businesses. The
gig economy has demonstrated resilience even during the pandemic, with platform workers
playing an indispensable role in urban India.
In this backdrop, this report offers a scientific methodological approach to estimate the job
creation potential of the gig-platform economy as well as provides wide-ranging perspectives
and recommendations on the gig-platform economy in India.
I commend Dr. K. Rajeswara Rao, Special Secretary, NITI Aayog, for conceiving and taking forward
this initiative and successfully bringing it to completion. My congratulations to Sh. Kundan
Kumar, Adviser, NITI Aayog and Sh. Rajesh Gupta, Director, NITI Aayog, for ensuring necessary
coordination and time-bound action for the study report. Special appreciation to the researchteam comprising Dr. Sakshi Khurana, from NITI Aayog, Dr. S.K. Sasikumar, former Senior Fellow
at V.V. Giri National Labour Institute, Dr. Vinoj Abraham, Centre for Development Studies,
Dr. Balakrushna Padhi, BITS-Pilani, and contributors Ms Aishwarya Raman, Ms Chhavi Banswal
and Ms Sreelakshmi Ramachandran.
I hope that the report will become a valuable resource in overcoming the knowledge and databarriers in our understanding of the gig-platform economy and drive further research andanalysis on this sector.
I extend my best wishes and support to all the Ministries, State governments, training
providers, platforms and others who can work in coordination and forge collaborations for the
implementation of report’s commendations to bring about growth and job creation in the gig
and platform sector.

Suman Bery
Vice Chairperson, NITI Aayog

Message from Vice Chairman | v

MESSAGE FROMCHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
The accelerated adoption of novel digital technologies has brought about a paradigm shift inbusiness processes and service provisions. New technologies associated with Industry 4.0 andthe gig economy are already reshaping the world of work and are expected to open up a whole
range of new opportunities in the future. Digital platforms in India have thrived as a result of theincreasing use of smartphones, the low cost of internet and other initiatives under the DigitalIndia campaign. Different platforms that comprise the gig economy offer innovative solutions
in different sectors such as transport, retail, personal and home care.
This changing scenario calls for the need to assess the employment generation potential of the
gig and platform sector and design policy measures that can invigorate efforts from different
stakeholders to promote growth along with decent work opportunities in this sector.
This report, a remarkable initiative of NITI Aayog, has come at a critical time. This report preparedby a research group of experts in the sector, steered by NITI Aayog, presents estimates on thesize of the gig-platform workforce and its employment potential and delineates strategies forjob creation, skill development and social security in the sector to come-up with a set of forwardlooking recommendations for different stakeholders.
I congratulate Dr. K. Rajeswara Rao, Special Secretary, NITI Aayog, for steering this initiativeand Mr. Kundan Kumar, Adviser, NITI Aayog and Mr. Rajesh Gupta, Director, NITI Aayog forthe necessary coordination. I appreciate the excellent work and contribution of the researchteam comprising Dr. Sakshi Khurana from NITI Aayog, Dr. S.K. Sasikumar, former Senior Fellow
at V.V. Giri National Labour Institute, Dr. Vinoj Abraham, Centre for Development Studies,
Dr. Balakrushna Padhi, BITS-Pilani, and contributors Ms Aishwarya Raman, Ms Chhavi Banswal
and Ms Sreelakshmi Ramachandran.
I request the concerned Ministries, State Governments, skill training providers and platforms toreview this report and build upon its recommendations to promote employment opportunities,
skill training and social security initiatives for workers in this sector. Only with coherent, consistentand coordinated efforts can we all truly leverage the potential that the gig and platform sector
offers for growth and employment opportunities.

Amitabh Kant
CEO, NITI Aayog

Message from Chief Executive Officer | vii

MESSAGE FROMSPECIAL SECRETARY
The gig and platform economy is a relatively new and emerging sector with immense potential
for growth and employment generation. The Economic Survey 2020-21 has noted that India has
already emerged as one of the world’s largest countries for flexi-staffing (i.e., gig and platformwork), and that this form of work will likely continue to grow with the increase in e-commerce
platforms.
This study ‘India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations
on Future of Work’ has been undertaken with the objective to understand the significance of
this sector to the economy, to employment generation and suggest measures to encourage
employment in the sector, along with initiatives for social security.
Several rounds of discussion were held and this report is the culmination of efforts of theresearch team comprising Dr. Sakshi Khurana from NITI Aayog, Dr. S.K. Sasikumar, former Senior
Fellow at V.V. Giri National Labour Institute, Dr. Vinoj Abraham, Centre for Development Studies,
Dr. Balakrushna Padhi, BITS-Pilani, and contributors Ms Aishwarya Raman, Ms Chhavi Banswal
and Ms Sreelakshmi Ramachandran.
The study highlights the significance of this sector through estimating the size of the workforce
and future requirements based on demand for different skill levels of workers. The study
highlights the employment generation potential of the gig and platform economy as jobs inthis sector have low-entry barriers and cater to the needs and aspirations of workers with varying
degrees of skill sets, including women, youth and Persons with Disabilities (PwDs).
The study documents and analyses best practices and initiatives for social security undertaken
by different platforms and different countries. On the basis of the estimates undertaken anda review of literature and best practices, recommendations are made for future estimates ofworkforce in the sector, policies for promoting business and employment generation in the
sector, enhancing the inclusiveness of jobs in the sector, particularly for women and PwDs,
preparing the workforce for employment in the sector through platform-led skill development
and recommendations for social security initiatives that can be introduced by platforms forworkers.
I hope that this report will serve as a crucial resource for Ministries, State Governments, Training
Providers, Platforms and other stakeholders to work in collaboration for promoting growth andemployment opportunities in this sector.

Dr K. Rajeswara Rao
Special Secretary, NITI Aayog

Message from Special Secretary | ix

MESSAGE FROMADVISERThe advent of technology has transformed the world of work with new and flexible types of jobs,
business models and working arrangements. The gig and platform economy is at the heart ofthis transformation, having disrupted a range of sectors from ride-hailing transport services toprofessional beauty and home services. Given the rapid growth and growing significance of theplatform economy, it becomes imperative to undertake a systematic quantitative assessmentof the current size and job generation potential and suggest policy measures for boosting
employment opportunities in this sector.
The key objectives of this study are estimating the size of the workforce engaged in the gig andplatform economy, highlighting both the opportunities and the challenges of this emerging
sector, presenting global best practices on initiatives for social security and outlining strategies
for skill development and job creation for different categories of workers in the sector througha set of comprehensive recommendations.
Several rounds of discussion were held with the research team comprising Dr. Sakshi Khurana
from NITI Aayog, Dr. S.K. Sasikumar, former Senior Fellow at V.V. Giri National Labour Institute,
Dr. Vinoj Abraham, Centre for Development Studies, Dr. Balakrushna Padhi, BITS-Pilani, andcontributors Ms. Aishwarya Raman, Ms. Chhavi Banswal and Ms. Sreelakshmi Ramachandran.
The research study has been an outcome of these very enriching discussions and efforts
undertaken by the research group towards estimations in the sector, systematic review ofliterature for presenting best practices and global insights and recommendations for enhancing
employment and social security in the sector.
I am confident that this report will serve as a crucial resource for Ministries, State Governments,
Skill Training Providers, Platform companies and other stakeholders towards concerted efforts
for promoting growth and employment opportunities in this sector.

Kundan Kumar
Adviser, NITI Aayog

Message from Adviser| xi

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Message from Vice Chairmanv

Message from Chief Executive Officervii

Message from Special Secretaryix

Message from Adviser

xi

Executive Summary

xvi

Chapter 1: Introduction

2

1.1.

Purpose of the Study

5

1.2.

Overview of the Study

6

Chapter 2: The Gig Workforce in India: Estimates and Projections

10

2.1.

Sizing up the Gig Economy: Current Approaches and Estimates

10

2.2

Estimating the Gig Work­force: Methodology

12

2.3.

Employment, GDP, and Employment Growth in India

18

2.4.

Estimate of Gig Workers

19

2.5.

Projections for Gig Work in India

24

2.6.

Summary on Gig Worker Size Estimation

25

2.7.

Recommendations for Estimation

26

Chapter 3: Technology Diffusion and Democratisation of Jobs

28

3.1.

Contours of the Platform Economy

29

3.2.

Livelihood Creation through Platform Work

29

3.3.

Evolution of Platform Jobs

31

3.4.

Challenges for Workers in the Gig & Platform Sector

34

3.5.

Expanding Platform Efficiency Across the Economy

37

3.6.

Policy Recommendations

40

Table of Contents | xiii

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Work

Chapter 4: Creating a Future-Ready Labour Force

48

4.1.

The Present Training Ecosystem and Recent Policy Initiatives

49

4.2.

The Need and Opportunity for Skill Development in the Platform Economy

50

4.3.

Platform-led Skilling as a Growth Model

51

4.4. Policy Recommendations

Chapter 5: Enhancing Social Inclusion in the New-age Digital Economy

52

56

5.1.

Structural Barriers to Social Inclusion : Challenges faced by Women

57

5.2.

Structural Barriers to Social Inclusion: Challenges faced by PwDs

60

5.3.

Opportunities for Greater Social Inclusion in Platform Work

61

5.4.

Growing Evidence of Women’s Participation in the Platform Economy

62

5.5.

Breaking Barriers, Creating Opportunities

65

5.6.

Policy Recommendations

67

Chapter 6: Global Examples and Suggestions for Social Security for
Gig & Platform Workers in India

72

6.1.

Understanding Social Security through Worker Classifications

73

6.2.

Evidence of Social Protection for Platform Workers during Covid-19

73

6.3.

Contemporary Challenges to Regulatory Framework for Gig and Platform
Workers: A Global Abstract

78

6.4.

Best Practices

86

6.5.

Policy Recommendations

90

Chapter 7: The Future of the Platform Economy – A Research Agenda

94

7.1.

The Survey of Small Platforms

94

7.2.

Women-run Platforms

95

7.3.

Are Platforms Formalising or Informalising the Economy?

95

7.4.

Contribution of the Platform Economy to India’s GDP

96

Chapter 8: References

98

Chapter 9: Endnotes

122

xiv | Table of Contents

Executive
Summary

The rapidly burgeoning gig workforce isushering in a new economic revolution
globally. India – with its demographic dividendof half-a-billion labour force and the world’s
youngest population, rapid urbanisation,
widespread adoption of smartphones andassociated technology – is the new frontier ofthis revolution. The gig economy has provenits resilience and potential even in the wakeof the Covid-19 pandemic, by continuing
to unlock jobs in the millions and keeping
communities connected. Gig economy –transforming the way we move, work, andlive – not just impacts how we do businessbut also affects our GDP.

xvi | Executive Summary

In this backdrop, this first-of-its-kind reportpresents comprehensive perspectives andrecommendations on the gig-platform
economy in India, engaging gig-platformworkers in the millions. Gig workers – thoseengaged in livelihoods outside the traditional
employer-employee arrangement – can bebroadly classified into platform and nonplatform-based workers. Platform workers
are those whose work is based on online
software apps or digital platforms. While,
non-platform gig workers are generally casual
wage workers and own-account workers in
the conventional sectors, working part-time
or full time. Delving deeper into the varianceIndia’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Workbetween gig and conventional workers, thisstudy uses the characteristics such as location(in urban areas), age group (18-45 years),
education levels (ranging between secondary
school and graduation), income level (workers
whose household consumption expenditureis below the 75th percentile of monthly percapita consumption expenditure), ownershipof mobile phones and access to a bankaccount for estimating gig and platformworkers.

country. It must, however, be noted that theestimation is only indicative and may not
represent the true size of the gig workforce.
Notwithstanding these limitations, the key
estimations and projections of this study aresummarised below.
1.

The purpose of this study is to view gig
work, with a focus on its subset – platform
work, through economic as well as worker
perspectives. In economic terms, the job
creating potential of the gig economy,
estimating its size and identifying its demandacross various industries are some of the
aspects that have been studied. The worker
perspective focuses on both the opportunities
and challenges for workers in the sector,
skilling the workers to enhance employment
opportunities for them in the sector, thepotential of platform work in accelerating
job creation for women and Persons with
Disabilities (PwDs) and initiatives for providing
social protection to all workers in this sector.

ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVE:
ESTIMATES AND PROJECTIONS
A special emphasis has been placed on
estimating the gig workforce in India,
which has otherwise been confounded bymethodological issues in identifying gig
workers. Often taking up multiple tasks with
contracts on-a-task-basis makes counting
workers complex. Moreover, there are severedata gaps when it comes to estimating thesize of the gig economy. Therefore, with thelimited data that is available on employment
and other related aspects, this study sets out
to estimate the size of the gig workforce inIndia by building on assumptions derived
from micro and macro studies in the2.

The gig economy engages millions of
gig workers.
a.

It is estimated that there were 68
lakh (6.8 million) gig workers in
2019-20, using both principal andsubsidiary status, forming 2.4% of
the non-farm workforce or 1.3% of
the total workers in India.

b.

It is estimated that in 2020-21, 77
lakh (7.7 million) workers were
engaged in the gig economy.
They constituted 2.6% of the nonagricultural workforce or 1.5% of thetotal workforce in India.

c.

The gig workforce is expected to
expand to 2.35 crore (23.5 million)
workers by 2029-30. The gig workers
are expected to form 6.7% of the
non-agricultural workforce or 4.1%of the total livelihood in India by
2029-30.

There is a growing demand for gig
work.
a.

The employment elasticity to GDP
growth for gig workers was above
one throughout the period 2011-12 to
2019-20, and was always above theoverall employment elasticity.

b.

The higher employment elasticity
for gig workers indicates the natureof economic growth, which createdgreater demand for gig workers
while not generating commensurate
demand for non-gig workers.

Executive Summary | xvii

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Workc.

3.

Gig work is expanding in all sectors.
a.

In terms of industrial classification,
about 26.6 lakh (2.7 million) gig
workers were involved in retail tradeand sales, and about 13 lakh (1.3
million) were in the transportation
sector.

b.

About 6.2 lakhs (0.6 million) werein manufacturing and another 6.3
lakhs (0.6 million) in the finance andinsurance activities.

c.

d.

4.

This also points towards greater
conversion of non-gig work to thatof gig work.

The retail sector saw an increase of
15 lakh (1.5 million) workers during
2011-12 to 2019-20, transport sector
7.8 lakhs (0.8 million), manufacturing— 3.9 lakhs (0.4 million).
In the education sector, theexpansion was from 66,000 to morethan one lakh (100,000) by 2019-20.

Gig work
polarisationa.

may

accentuate

Recommendations for Future
Estimations
1.

Undertake a separate enumeration
exercise to estimate the size ofthe gig economy, and identify thecharacteristic features of gig workers.

2. During official enumerations (PLFS,NSS or otherwise), collect information
to identify gig workers. This could
include questions on the nature ofcontract between worker and job
creator, use of technology in work, etc.

skill

At present about 47% of the gig work
is in medium skilled jobs, about 22%
in high skilled, and about 31% in low
skilled jobs.

b.

Trend shows the concentration ofworkers in medium skills is gradually
declining and that of the low skilled
and high skilled is increasing.

c.

It may be expected that while thedomination of medium skills would
continue till 2030, gig work withother skills will emerge.

Gig work is bound to expand due to thetechnological possibilities in numerous
production spaces. At the same time, italso provides the opportunity for workers toxviii | Executive Summarytranscend the limitations of work-time andwork-space. Given this potential of gig work,
the future would see a growing prominenceof such work. However, there exists no official
data that can authoritatively estimate theextent of gig work in India, thereby rendering
the gig workforce invisible. This calls for thefollowing recommendations for future
estimations.

WORKER PERSPECTIVE:
FINDINGS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
Gig and specifically platform workers exhibit
characteristics beyond the formal-informal
dichotomy. While gig work is a larger concept
with many undefined aspects, platform workwithin it is more substantial. Therefore, theworker perspective of this study aims to shedlight on who is a platform worker and how
a platform worker can be protected, while
encouraging employment opportunities in
the platform sector.
In a platform economy, any individual armed
with an internet-enabled smartphone andtangible or intangible assets can monetise
these assets at will, to become a platformworker. Thus, beyond its potential to provide aIndia’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Workwide spectrum of services to consumers, theplatform economy can also offer livelihood
opportunities to different sections of workers,
including women, migrants, Persons with
Disabilities (PwDs), and the youth. The
worker perspective heavily draws from casestudies and secondary literature review for
a comparative analysis of platform workers
and their counterparts, paving the way forrecommendations. The study presents asystematic analysis of both the opportunities
as well as challenges for workers in theplatform sector. Some of the key findings andrecommendations have been detailed below.

1. Technology Diffusion and Evolving Future of Worka.

Delineation of Jobs
The huge difference between
platform-mediated jobs and thosein the wider unorganised economy
entails the definition of the job itself.

b.

c.

Democratisation of Jobs
i.

The gig and platform sector has
low-entry barriers and hence
holds enormous potential forjob creation in India.

ii.

The
gig
and
platform
sector offers better income
opportunities to those previously
engagedinsimilar
nonplatform jobs. It can thus work
as a catalyst for occupational
mobility.

mobility of workers and clients acrossmarkets hassle-free.
d.

e.

Reliability of Worki.

The technological intervention
in this space has contributed tothe uptick in demand, and hencetheearnings
opportunities
associated with it.

ii.

This is predicated on theunprecedented level of skill
matching
andtech-based
job allocation fulfilled in realtime by platforms, thereby
eliminating the inefficiencies inthese sectors.

Challenges for Workers in the
Sectori.

Access to internet services anddigital technology can be a
restrictive factor for workers
willing to take up jobs in the gig
and platform sector.

ii.

Lack of job security, irregularityofwages,
anduncertain
employment status for workers
aresignificant
challenges
noted by studies in the gig andplatform sector. The uncertainty
associated with regularity in theavailable work and income maylead to increased stress andpressure for workers.

iii.

The contractual relationshipbetween the platform owner
and worker is characterised asother than one of employment.
Platform workers are termed as“independent contractors”. As aresult, platform workers cannot
access many of the workplace
protections and entitlements.

iv.

Studies have also reported
that workers engaged in

Geographical Availability
Around 300 cities of varying sizes
in India are serviced by various
platforms operating across sectors
likeride-hailing,home-based
services, food/ grocery/ medicinedelivery, logistics fulfilment ande-commerce, covering the broad
ambit of urban services, and making

Executive Summary | xix

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Workremunerative activities withdigital platforms may facestress due to pressures resulting
from algorithmic management
practices and performance
evaluation on the basis of
ratings.

iv.

Thus, growth of business in labour platforms
needs to be balanced with decent working
conditions and well-being of workers.
With technological diffusion changing thefuture of work, greater efforts are needed tofacilitate innovation while creating jobs andprotecting workers. Therefore, the following
recommendations have been made.
a.

Catalyse Platformization
i.

ii.

iii.

A Platform India initiative, built
on the pillars of Accelerating
Platformization by Simplificationand Handholding, Funding
Support and Incentives, Skill
Development,
andSocialFinancial Inclusion, like theimmensely successful Startup
India
initiative,maybeintroduced.
Ferrying of passengers forhire may be permitted in all
categories ranging from twowheelers (in the form of biketaxis or bike-pool) and threewheelers(rickshaws,
autorickshaws), to four-wheelers(taxi-cabs and carpool), and10-12-seater
vehicles(minibuses).
Self-employedindividuals
engaged in the business ofselling regional and rural cuisine,
street food, etc. may be linked toplatforms so that they could sell
their produce to wider markets
in towns and cities.

xx | Executive Summaryb.

The government may remove
entry barriers and create a levelplaying field while retaining key
aspects of mobility platforms– the ability of drivers to haveflexible working conditions andbe an entrepreneur in their own
right. For instance, the Central
Government (Ministry of Road
Transport and Highways –MoRTH) has done away withthe requirement of commercial
licences to drive commercial
vehicles. The state governments
may consider implementing
the no-commercial license rule
uniformly across the country.

Accelerate Financial Inclusioni.

Access to institutional credit
may be enhanced to bolster
theGovernment’s
existing
efforts to promote financial
inclusion
throughfinancial
products specifically designed
for platform workers and thoseinterested to set-up their own
platforms.
Venturecapitalfunding, grants and loans
from banks and other funding
agencies should be provided toplatform businesses of all sizes
at the pre-revenue and earlyrevenue stages.

ii.

FinTech and platform businesses
may be leveraged to provide
cash flow-based loans to workers
as against collateral-based loans,
thereby catering to the needs ofthose new to credit.

iii.

Unsecured loans to first-timeborrowers participating in theplatform economy may beclassified as Priority Sector
Lending.

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Workiv.

Special emphasis may beplaced on access to formal
credit for women and Persons
with Disabilities (PwDs).

v.

Likewise,
specialemphasisshould be offered to platformbusinesses started in small cities,
towns, and villages in India.

Training Scheme of the Ministryof Education, and the National
Apprenticeship
Promotion
Scheme and Dual System
of Training initiative of the
Ministry of Skill Development
and Entrepreneurship. These
initiatives combine theoreticaltraining with practical trainingfromindustry
partners,
thereby strengthening industry
linkages and providing handson experience to students on
industries’ latest technologies
and techniques.

2. 
Skill Development for Platform
Jobs
a.

b.

Skill development of youth and theworkforce remains an importantpriority for India to make them
employable.

b.

Often, the platform companies
which provide earning opportunities
for those associated with them takeconsiderable steps in skilling theseworkers as well. This is to assure
uniform standards in quality ofservice, while also achieving upskilling of workers in an otherwise
highly unorganised labour economy.

Therefore, pursuing ends- or outcomebased, platform-led models of skilling andjob creation have gathered attention fromindustry associations and have provento be successful. This study makes thefollowing recommendations to bolster
skill development initiatives to enhance
employment opportunities for workers in the
gig and platform sector.
a.

Outcome-based Skillingi.

c.

Platform-led Transformational
Skillingi.

Platforms can enable theupskilling and diversificationof platform workforce in a
newly structured and industrytested manner. Platforms cancollaborate with the Ministryof Skill Development andEntrepreneurship,andthe
National Skill Development
Corporation (NSDC) to nurtureskilled workers and microentrepreneurship.

ii.

Transformational
upskilling
creates avenues of horizontal
and vertical mobility for workers
empowering them to augment
their earnings.

Transferability of Skills

It is important to strengthenindustry-linkages and enablecandidates undergoing skill
training to receive on-the-job
training.

i.

Platforms can enable thecreation of potential “Skill
Certificates” or “Skill Passports”
for workers that platformbusinesses can provide.

Examples of such outcomebased skilling are seen in
the National Apprenticeshipii.

This can be envisaged as a “Skill
Badge” in the platform worker’s
online profile.

Executive Summary | xxi

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Workd.

Platform-skilling
ModelsGovernment Schemes
i.

ii.

e.

with

The potential and impact of
platform-led skilling may be
included in India’s National
Skill Development Policy, andincorporated in the formulationof all roadmaps and strategies
for skill development.
This would set the right stage
for nationwide ends-based skill
development while also catering
to a growing young population
which is mobile-first.

Integration/Linkage of Employment and Skill Development
portals: By integrating the Skill
Development and Employment/
Social Security portals such as
E-Shram and National Career
Services portals of the Ministry ofLabour and Employment, Udyam portal of the Ministry of Micro,
Small & Medium Enterprises andthe ASEEM portal of Ministry of Skill
Development & Entrepreneurship, aone-stop solution could be afforded
for a large number of workers India.

gender or disability and incidenceof poverty.
d.

There is an emerging positive trendthat suggests women are more
likely to take up platform jobs after
their education and marriage.

e.

Platforms businesses are actively
working towards value creationin terms of skilling, digital literacy,financial literacy and inculcating
entrepreneurial spirit.

Platforms offer flexibility and choice of labourto all workers in general and women and
PwDs in particular, empowering them tomonetise their idle assets when and where
they want. This benefit is missing in traditional
employment sectors. Platforms are thus
attractive avenues of livelihood opportunities
for women and PwDs.
The platform economy relies on innovation
to provide access to skill development, social
security, access to finance and job creation,
which are the key pillars of inclusive growth.
In order to strengthen the inclusivenessplatform jobs have to offer, this study makes
the following recommendations:a.

Recommendations for the Industryi.

3. E
nhancing Social Inclusion in
the New-age Digital Economya.

The female labour force participationin India has remained low, oscillating
between 16% to 23% in the last few
years.

b.

Meanwhile, Persons with Disability(PwDs), who make up for 2.11 to 10%
of India’s population, have a labour
force participation rate of 36%.

c.

The structural barriers for both
demographic groups range fromaccess to education, lack of skilling
and a direct correlation between

xxii | Executive Summary

Gender Sensitisation & Accessibility Awareness Programmes
for workers and their families
1.

Platform businesses canundertakepartnerships
with civil society organisations (CSOs) and non-­governmentalorganisations (NGOs) to promotelegal/ economic/ social
rights of women and especially from marginal andvulnerable
backgrounds,
thereby increasing their potential to take up non-traditional livelihoods.

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Workii.

Inclusive Communication, Systems, and Processes
1.

iii.

Skill development and asset
ownership
1.

iv.

b.

Platform businesses canimplement
communi­cation plans which are
gender- and accessibilityinclusive. For instance, theycan ensure there is a higher
share of women and PwD
managers and supervisors
in the organisation. They
can ensure communicationtoworkersdoes
notperpetuate gender anddisability stereotypes. They
can have 24 X 7 helplines,
etc.

Partnerships with Govern­ments, CSOs & Allied
Businesses to reskill andupskill women and PwDs
while also facilitating theiraccess to assets

Better Infrastructure and Work
Design to create enabling
environment for women and
PwD workers.

v.

Institutionalise
Accessibility,
Diversity and Inclusion at theworkplace with initiatives suchas Gender-based and Disabilitybased onboarding targets andincentives.

vi.

Facilitate access to social security
benefits for women and Persons
with Disabilities (PwDs).

Recommendations
fortheGovernment, Civil society, Alliedbusinesses, and Nonprofitsi.

Ensure universal coverage ofplatform workers through theCode on Social Securityii.

Bridge skill gaps by carryingout
periodic
assessments
and partnering with platformbusinesses
foronboarding
skilled women and PwDs

iii.

Reach out to unbanked andunderbanked
women
and
PwDs through FinTech services

iv.

Organise gender sensitisation
and accessibility awarenessprogrammes for all publicfacing personnel from traffic
cops and law-and-order police
to toll booth operators, et. al.

v.

Incentivise inclusive businesses– women led-platforms or platforms that encourage recruitment of women employees andthose with disabilities.

vi.

Make aggregate data publicly
available to enable robust decision-making by the ecosystem.

4. G
 lobal Examples and Suggestions for Social Security for Gig& Platform Workers in India
This study report sheds light on the various
social protection approaches taken aroundthe world for gig and platform workers
and how they can pave the way for social
protection measures for gig and platformworkers in India.
i.

Paid Sick Leave, Health Accessand Insurance: On the lines ofmeasures introduced to mitigate
the challenges posed by the Covid-19
pandemic by platforms such asOla, Uber, Urban Company, Swiggy,
Zomato, measures for paid sickExecutive Summary | xxiii

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Work

leave, health access and insurance
may be adopted by platforms as
a part of their workplace or workengagement policies for all theworkers they engage, round the year.
This will have positive implications
for offering a social security cover toplatform workers engaged by thesefirms.
ii.

Occupational
DiseaseandWork Accident Insurance: On
the lines of Indonesia’s initiatives
in offering accident and otherinsurance to workers through digitalmechanisms, ride-hailing, delivery
and e-commerce platforms may
adopt such a model for providing
accident insurance to all delivery
and driver partners, and otherplatform workers across India. Thesemay be offered in collaboration withthe private sector or government, as
envisaged under the Code on Social
Security, 2020.

iii.

Retirement/Pension Plans andOther Contingency Benefits: As
illustrated in the case of measures
introduced in the U.K. in the study,
gig and platform firms need to adopt
policies that offer old age/retirement
plans and benefits and otherinsurance cover for contingencies
such as injury arising from workthat may lead to loss of employment
and income. Such plans and policies
may be uniquely designed by afirm, in partnership with insurancecompanies, or could be designed
and offered in collaboration with thegovernment, as envisaged under the
Code on Social Security, 2020.

iv.

Support to Workers in a Situationof Irregularity of Work: As illustrated
in the study through the examples

xxiv | Executive Summaryof initiatives undertaken in the U.S.
and U.K., gig and platform firms
may consider providing income
support to workers. This will be a
critical step in providing assured
minimum earnings and social
security from income loss in thewake of uncertainty or irregularity
in work.
v.

Supporting Small Businesses &Entrepreneurs associated with
Platforms: As a part of initiatives
introducedtomitigatethechallenges posed by the Covid-19
pandemic, there have been examples
of certain platforms extending
interest-free business advances anddelayed payback periods to protect
the gig workers, self-employed andsmall businesses engaged withthem. Following such examples,
small businesses and entrepreneurs
can be encouraged to have linkages
with platforms to expand outreachfor their products and services.

vi.

Contingency Cover out of a Corpus
Fund: As illustrated in the study amobility platform, in order to support
auto-rickshaw, cab, kaali-peeli andtaxi drivers to mitigate the effectsof the Covid-19 lockdown on theirincome, created a corpus of INR 20
Cr, called the “Drive the Driver Fund”.
Measures such as offering a social
security cover out of a corpus fundcan help support gig and platformworkers and other self-employedindividuals associated with thesector in case of contingencies.

RAISE Framework for operationalising
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

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Workapproach to ensure realisation of full access tosocial security for all gig and platform workers:i.

Recognise the varied nature ofplatform work to design equitable
schemes.

ii.

Allow augmentation of social security
throughinnovative
financingmechanisms.

iii.

Incorporate,
while
designingschemes, the specific interests ofplatforms, factoring the impact on
job creation, platform businesses
and workers.

iv.

Support workers to subscribe togovernment schemes and welfare
programmes through widespreadawareness campaigns.

v.

the same as those of their bigger
counterparts. Applying uniform
regulations and policy interventions
without accounting for how theirimpact may vary according to thesize of a platform, would prove to be
detrimental to the growth of smaller
businesses.
ii.

Greater data is needed to understandthe difficulties faced by women-run
platforms. Extensive research into
this domain would help design
incentives to promote their growthand help them scale up.
iii.

5. T
 he Future of Platform Economy:
A Research Agendai.

Survey of Small Platforms
At present, the regulatory debate
around platform businesses takes
a blanket approach of treating all
businesses the same. However,the functioning and issues ofsmall platform businesses are not

Are
Platforms
leadingtoFormalization of Employment?
Even as various studies haverecognised
theemployment
generation potential of platforms, it
may be of interest to explore if theuse of technology and other new
mechanisms in platforms is leading
to formalization of employment.

Ensure benefits are readily accessible
to workers.

Being in its nascent stage, the platform
economy in India is yet to be studiedcomprehensively. Not only are there severedata gaps when it comes to enumerating
gig and platform workers, there is much to be
explored on the regulatory front as well. The
exercise of policy design and implementationmust keep its specific subjects and welldefined purpose, in order to be effective.
Therefore, this study concludes by formulatinga research agenda that lists out some of the
key aspects of the platform economy thatneed to be studied:

Women-run Platforms

iv.

Contribution of the Platform
Economy to India’s GDP
This report presents an indirect
approach to estimate the growthin the size of the gig-platform
economy and its contribution to
India’s economic output. Alternative
approaches grounded in actual
data of the number of workers
wearing the platform labour hat
are necessary. Furthermore, using
these estimates, platform economy’scontribution to India’s GDP must be
determined. This exercise may alsoenable India to unpack the pace atwhich platformization is occurring
across industries and what enablers
and barriers might be causing thesame.

Executive Summary | xxv

1

Introduction

The rise of the gig economy in India ischanging the face of its workforce. The current
estimation for gig economy jobs in India is at
8 to 18 million, which is projected to increase
to over 90 million jobs in the non-farm sector
in the next eight to ten years (Tiwari, Ram& Roy, 2019; BCG and Michael & Susan Dell
Foundation, 2021). Therefore, by next decade
the gig economy in India can see USD 250
billion transactions at 1.25% of the country’s
Gross Domestic Product.
For India, four industry sectors can be
identified as the ones with the highest
potential to produce “gigable” jobs in the future

2 | Introduction— Construction, Manufacturing, Retail, andTransportation and Logistics. These sectors
are together expected to accommodate over
70 million of the potentially “gigable” jobs inthe future (BCG and Michael & Susan Dell
Foundation, 2021). However, the gig economy
is fast-expanding and its presence can benoticed in other industries such as textile,banking and financial services, electricity, gas
and water; real estate, IT and ITES, education,
personal services (IBEF, 2021). Currently morethan 75% of the companies have less than
10% gig headcount, but this proportion isbound to rise with MNCs turning to flexible
hiring options (ibid).

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Work

Shifting the focus to platform economy, asubset of the gig economy, in the next three
to four years, about 24 million jobs could be
converted to technology-based gig labour (i.e.
platform work), with about three million jobs
in shared services and another eight million
jobs servicing household demand (BCG
and Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, 2021).
Further, the study by Fairwork India (Fairwork
India, 2020) estimates that eleven platforms
in India report about 30 lakh workers in 20201.
Therefore, the increasing prominence of gig
and platform workers must be acknowledged,
if India is to leverage the full potential of thisnew-age workforce.
A gig worker is a person who engages
in income-earning activities outside of a
traditional employer-employee relationship,
as well as in the informal sector (Ministry ofLabour and Employment, 2020a). When gig
workers use platforms – i.e., websites or apps
like Ola, Uber, Dunzo, Zomato, Swiggy or
Urban Company – to connect with customers,
they are called platform workers (OECD, 2019).
Platform workers are one of the most visiblegroups of professionals in urban India today.
Through the app, they could receive a workorder which might involve ferrying passengers
around in taxi-cabs, auto-rickshaws, bike-taxis
and their electric vehicle variants, deliver
food and groceries, or provide cleaning or
wellness services at home. Even as this formof labour, i.e. platform work, gains currency
in today’s socio-political landscape, it did notstart in the 2020s. Nor is it restricted to theaforementioned jobs or a country like India
alone.
The gig economy in itself is expansive
and undefined and can include a variety
of workers outside of a traditional worker
definition. However, platform economy is more
concretised as it specifically focuses on the1

See page 30, Fairwork India Report 2020, forestimates of each of the eleven platforms.

use of online platforms, making each worker’srole clearly defined. For instance, it is notuncommon in India to have an independent
worker, like the chauffeur for a family, take upother roles, such as butler, errand runner or
daytime watchman. Such roles are dissociatedand demarcated to provide a specific service
in the platform economy (Ramachandran &Raman, 2021).
Even though independent work is not a newphenomena, its digital enablement throughplatformization is. Globally, the number of
web-based platforms have tripled, and thenumber of taxi and delivery platforms hasgrown nearly tenfold (ILO, 2021). The numberof digital platforms increased from 142 in2010 to 777 in 2020, generating a revenue ofat least USD 52 billion in 2019 alone. These
digital platforms of labour are primarily
concentrated in the US (29%), India (8%), andthe UK and Northern Ireland (5%) (ibid). Tasks,
such as design, data entry, analytics, andfinancial services, among others, can now be
outsourced by businesses through these webbased platforms. Platforms are thus emerging
as the new defining peak of a globalised world,
where the needs of a business in the global
North can be addressed by a worker in the
global South. The diverse nature of platforms
enables them to parallely offer hyperlocal jobs
centred on driving and delivery. Such locationbased platforms also provide a plethora of
day-to-day professional home services, suchas electrical work, cleaning, and beauty orwellness-based services, among others.
Thus, the future of work is rapidly changing
in the face of three common forces –technological advancement, climate change
and demography. Of the three, the mostpervasive has been technology. A panel of 20
technology businesses and academic experts
from around the globe have estimated that
85% of the jobs that will exist in 2030 havenot even been invented yet (Dell & IFTF, 2018).

Introduction | 3

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of WorkThe diffusion of technology can be witnessedin the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India,
China and South Africa) that have experienced
momentous growth in internet connections
and use of internet-enabled devices (ILO,
2020). In India alone, the number of active
internet users is expected to increase by 45%,
from 622 million in 2020 to 900 million in
2025 (IAMAI-Kantar, 2020).
The world is only beginning to capture theimmense opportunities digitalisation offers,
and the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated
this process. In India, the total digitaltransaction volume had increased to INR 4,371
crore from 3,412 crore in 2019-20. At the sametime, the value of digital transactions madethrough the Unified Payment Interface (UPI)
system alone doubled from INR 21,31,730 crorein 2019-2020 to INR 41,03,658 crores in 20202021 (RBI, 2021). This increased preference for
digital modes of payments was a result of
the strict containment measures, including
lockdowns and restrictions on non-essential
economic and social activities throughout
2020. Moreover, digital technologies, thus,
emerged as the essential tool that ensured
service continuity. Platform workers emerged
as the lifeline keeping communities connected
in 2020. They ferried essential personnel
to hospitals, delivered food, groceries, andmedicines to all in general, and the elderly
and vulnerable communities, in particular(The Economic Times, 2020).
This study impresses upon the need toleverage these benefits of digitalisation to
boost employment in the gig and platform
sector.
Undoubtedly, platform labour is the resultof the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). 4IR
which started in the late 2000s – early 2010sis growing exponentially, disrupting every
industry in every country, and heralding thetransformation of entire systems of production,
management, and governance. Technologies

4 | Introductionand emerging technological breakthroughsof the 4IR such as smartphones, Internetof Things (IoT), artificial intelligence, etc. areblurring the lines between the physical,
digital, and biological spheres (Schwab, 2016),
all the while making our jobs and lives safe
and convenient.
As most platform businesses rely on mobilebased apps, accessed on affordable mobile
devices and low-cost data plans, they havethrived in India, with a much needed impetus
provided by the Government’s Digital India2
campaign that aims to build a digitally
empowered society and knowledge economy.
The accretion in the number of active internet
users in India will further enable existing
platforms to scale, and new ones to emerge.
Moreover, India has already emerged as oneof the world’s largest countries for flexi-staffing(i.e., gig and platform work) (The Economic
Survey 2020-21), and that this form of work
will likely continue to grow with the incursionof e-commerce platforms amid the Covid-19
pandemic.
Indeed, the ubiquity of smartphones andavailability of affordable data are transforming
how we work, move, and live. As thedigital permeates all aspects of our lives,
digitalisation of work is inevitable. Invariably,
central to this metamorphosis is talent orlabour, representing the most critical factor
of production in the 21st century. Even as
consumer needs and aspirations evolve, andbusiness models change, how well a nation’s
labour force adjusts to the transitions, andpowers this transformation is important for any
economy. This is particularly relevant for India
which is home to over half a billion individuals
in the working-age. Thus, the manner in which

2

Digital India is a flagship programme of theGovernment of India with a vision to transform India
into a digitally powered society and knowledge
economy (Ministry of Electronics and Information
Technology, 2015).

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Work

India leverages the technologies of the 4IR
to unlock meaningful jobs for its population
while enhancing its global competitiveness isa public policy issue of urgent significance.

workers such as women and Persons
with Disabilities (PwDs) as well.
b.

1.1. PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
Situated in this backdrop is this comprehensive
study of the platform economy in India. Beinga new-age phenomena, there are a numberof aspects of platform work that remain
unexplored, and this study is an attempt
to plug these knowledge gaps through astructure of four key pillars:
1.

Global comparisons and lessonsa.

Throughacomprehensive
comparative analysis, this study
examines the characteristics ofplatform labour and regulations
related to it globally.

b.

The study documents best practices
and initiatives for social security ofplatform workers undertaken bysome countries.

Data on Platform Economy
a.

b.

2.

3.

There is a need for evidence-based
analysis around gig and platformwork to recommend policy measures
to leverage gig and platform
economy to unlock jobs, protect
livelihoods, and enhance social andfinancial inclusion.
This study estimates the size of the
gig and platform economy, while
also highlighting their relevance for
India.

4.

Recommendations for policy measures
to leverage the opportunities offeredby the platform economya.

Through a concretised set ofrecommendations, this study calls
for a multi-stakeholder approachto leverage the gig and platform
economy to unlock jobs, protect
livelihoods, and enhance social andfinancial inclusion in India.

b.

The study presents recommendations for estimating employment

Job creation for the marginaliseda.

Platform work due to the flexibilityof work hours and work space that it
offers, can offer greater employment
avenues to different categories ofThis study presents suggestions forpromoting social inclusion in theplatform economy, which can beleveraged to improve the labour
force participation of marginalised
and vulnerable groups, especiallythrough skilling.

Introduction | 5

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Workin the gig and platform economy,
promoting platforms for employment generation, skill development
initiatives to enhance employment
and income earning opportunities
for workers and recommendations
to enhance access to social security
coverage for gig and platform workers in India.

included in the analysis. Lastly, ​​15 industries
with the largest concentration of gig work or
having the potential to have a growth of gig
work are considered in the estimation of thesize of gig workforce in India.
The chapter concludes with recommendations on improving the process of enumeration in India with specific inputs onstrengthening labour force surveys and datacollection in the country.

1.2. OVERVIEW OF THE STUDYThis report presents findings from the

Chapter 3: Technology Diffusion
and Democratisation of Jobs

investigation into the following aspects ofThis chapter unpacks the concepts ofwhat is broadly termed the gig and platform

platformization and the platform economy ineconomy, arranged thematically in various

detail. It further looks at a host of frequently

chapters as follows.

asked questions on the platform economy:
What is the impact of digitalisation of jobs in

Chapter 2: The Gig Workforce inIndia: Estimates and Projections
Chapter 2 adopts a novel albeit indirect
method to estimate the size of the gig
workforce in India. Using proximate gig worker
characteristics(supplyside)

determinedfrom existing literature & micro-studies, weestimate the number of workers with these
gig worker-like characteristics within theindustries and occupations that demand
gig work (demand side). While estimates are
made for the time period 2011-20, projections
are made for the period 2021-30. Worker
characteristics such as location, age group,
education, household income, agriculture
or non-agricultural employment, and accessto mobile phones and bank accounts, arefactored in for the estimation. 21 occupations
ranging from computer professionals andelectronic equipment operators to sales
and business services agents, motor vehicle
drivers, housekeeping and restaurant service
workers, street vendors, domestic helpers
and cleaners, and building caretakers, etc. are

6 | Introduction

India? Who is a platform worker? What are
the characteristics of a platform worker andhow are they different, if any, from a nonplatform worker? How does the platform
economyinteract

with

the

traditional

formal-informal economy? How large is theplatform economy? What is the potential of
the platform economy in India; what is thequantum of livelihoods it can unlock in theyears to come?
To answer said questions, we use datafromafirst-of-its-kindsurveyinvolving

3,300 platform workers and 1,700 nonplatform workers conducted across 12 cities
in India, in late 2019. The insights are then
combined with an analysis of macro- andmicroeconomic trends revealed by large
datasets from Periodic Labour Force Surveys,
and data from the Centre for Monitoring
Indian Economy, among others. Evidence,
thus, collected on India is compared withthat of emerging and advanced economies3
to understand the similarities and differences3

We use secondary and tertiary sources here.

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Workof platformization as it unfolds around theand inclusive? Here, we specifically study

world.

the role of platforms in bringing women,

Thechapterconcludes

withpolicyrecommendations for India to unlock jobs
in the millions, with emphasis on identifying
and removing entry barriers, if any, and truly
democratising access to jobs in the country.

Chapter 4: Creating a Future-readyLabour Force
Chapter 4 looks at the interplay between
skill development and platformization. We
situate skills in the larger context of assetsthat individuals have access to and which canbe monetised at their will. Thus, the chapter
considers numerous questions: What are theassets needed for jobs in the 21st century?
How can they be gained? What is theimpact of platformization on worker’s skills?
What are the skill sets needed for India’sand Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) to theforefront of the economy. In this context, westudy the enablers and barriers to performing
platform labour, faced by the traditionallymarginalised groups in India and conclude
withpolicyrecommendations

for

India

to mainstream the active participation of
women and Persons with Disabilities (PwDs)
in the economy.
Insights from a survey of ~700 women within
and outside the platform economy informs
the policy learnings and recommendations inthis chapter, combined with case studies on
the participation of in the platform economy.

Chapter 6: Global Examples and
Suggestions for Social Security for
Gig & Platform Workers in India

half-a-billion labour force? What is the role

Chapter 6 demystifies the evolution of socialof the larger ecosystem – digital platforms,

protection around the world.

training agencies, and the government,
among others – in skill development?

This chapter uses case studies to examine
how India and the rest of the world has

Evidence is derived from a driver training

protected

provided by a mobility platform through in-economy against Covid-19. Platforms haveperson sessions in the second half of 2019.

given rise to innovative models that canThis is combined with survey results fromprovide social security benefits to workers

the 5000-worker survey stated earlier, along

independent of their association to platforms.

with secondary data on skilling and asset

Best practices from countries such as theaugmentation in the platform economy.

US, the UK, Singapore, China, South Africa

The chapter highlights the urgent need for
India to create a future-ready labour force
and presents policy recommendations toenable the same.

andleveragedtheplatformand Hong Kong have been used as evidence
to underscore the need for creating specificpolicies to promote platform economy andprotect the platform workers. India’s Code on
Social Security expands worker classifications

Chapter5:
EnhancingSocialInclusion in the New-age Digital
Economyin India, recognises worker classifications

This chapter uses the lens of equity to study

traditional work relations such as platforms

the platform economy. Are platforms diverse

is key to universalising social security.

of gig and platform workers and extendssocial protection to all workers. Extendingsocial security to those associated in non-Introduction | 7

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Work

Chapter 7: The Future of the
Platform Economy – A Research
AgendaThe

concluding

chapterofthis report

identifies potential areas of research to

8 | Introduction

deepen our collective understanding of theplatform economy, and to leverage it tounlock jobs in the millions while protecting
livelihoods and lives at scale.

2

The Gig Workforce
in India: Estimatesand Projections

2.1 SIZING UP THE GIG ECONOMY:CURRENT APPROACHES AND
ESTIMATES
Estimating the gig work force in India isconfounded with methodological issues
in identifying gig workers. Workers not
identified as employees, and instead termed
as partners, pose the issue of whether toclassify them as wage employed or as selfemployed. Often taking up multiple tasks with
contracts on-a-task-basis makes counting
workers complex. In addition, estimating thesize of the gig economy in India is fraught
with severe data gaps in this field. Though

the Indian statistical system is very robustin the case of the conventional economy,
official data presently does not estimate gig
and platform workers due to the amorphousnature of work in the sector. Nevertheless, thegig economy is emerging in prominence andits rising presence cannot be ignored. The gig
economy is bound to expand on account ofboth conversion of conventional jobs into
gig work and also due to new sectors that
depend on platform and gig work.
With the limited data that is available on
employment and other related aspects
we attempt to estimate the size of the gig
workforce in India. The estimation is only

10 | The Gig Workforce in India: Estimates and Projections

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Work

indicative and may not represent the true sizeof the gig workforce. Before we present ourestimates we summarise recent literature on
gig work estimations and their structure in
India and other countries.

2.1.1. Gig Economy Size
We first begin by outlining recent estimateson the size of the gig economy. A 2020
study conducted by the Michael and Susan
Foundation and Boston Consulting Group(BCG) estimates the gig economy jobs at 8
million in India. This could increase to about
90 million jobs in the non-farm sector in
about 8 to 10 years, with USD 250 billion
transactions at 1.25% of India’s GDP (BCG
and Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, 2021).
Further in three to four years, about 24 million
jobs could get converted to technologybased gig labour (i.e. platform work), about
three million jobs in shared services and eight
million jobs servicing household demand.
A study by Fairwork India (Fairwork, 2020)
estimates that eleven platforms in India
report about 30 lakh workers in 20204.
Another study notes that there are 33 lakh
platform workers in the passenger mobility
and hyperlocal delivery services in urban India(Raman, Ramachandran & Sasikumar, 2021).
IBEF, citing an ASSOCHAM study, reports thatthe gig sector is set to expand to USD 455
billion at a CAGR of 17% by 2024 (IBEF, 2021).
A 2019 study by TeamLease estimates that gig
workers in India increased from 8.5 million
in 2016 to 11.7 million in 2017, and 15 million
in 2018 (Tiwari, Ram & Roy, 2019). The reportfurther notes that 56% of new employment
in India is being generated by gig economy
companies across both blue- and whitecollar workforce. Most of the workers are
in Delhi followed by Bengaluru (Salman &Bansal, 2019). Another 2019 report – the one
4

See page 30, Fairwork India Report 2020, forestimates of each of the eleven platforms.

by Betterplace – estimates that of the 2.1
million blue-collar jobs in India in 2019, 1.4
million were in the gig economy. Betterplacecollated this data based on a sample setof 1.1 million individual profiles, engaged by
1,000 job creators (Ganesh, 2019). Lastly, inthis confounding, contradicting array of gig
economy estimates is the 2021 compilation of
statistics on the gig economy by ASSOCHAM
and Primus Partners. Their report pegs thegig economy size at 15 million “freelance
workers engaged in projects in different
sectors”. 64% of them are 24-38 years of age,
the report adds further. Lastly, the reportnotes the distribution of gig workers in top
metro cities as follows: Bengaluru (2,34,000),
Delhi (2,25,000), Mumbai (1,33,000), Pune
(1,25,000), and Chennai (93,222) (ASSOCHAM& Primus Partners, 2021).

2.1.2. G ig Industries and Occupations
Gig work is currently not spread across all
sectors of the economy, though it has thepotential to become a major form of workin future. The BCG study identified fourindustry sectors as the ones with the highest
potential to produce “gigable” jobs in the
future. Construction, Manufacturing, Retail,and Transportation and Logistics would
accommodate over 70 million of the potentially“gigable” jobs in the future. The IBEF reportcites other industries that are transforming
to gig such as textile, banking and financial
services, electricity, gas and water; real estate,
IT and ITES, education, personal services. IBEF
reports that MNCs are now turning to flexible
hiring options. Currently more than 75% of thecompanies have less than 10% gig headcount,but this proportion is bound to rise. The future
for such gig hiring may increase from 15% in2020 to nearly 70% in another 5 years in the
FMCG industry, and similarly in other relatedindustries. Currently, the popular occupations
include driving, delivery of goods, customer

The Gig Workforce in India: Estimates and Projections | 11

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Worksupport, transactions processing, marketingand sales, software development etc. As is
expected, in the future other jobs could also
get gigged. Reports project the long term
potential for gig to be skilled and semi-skilledjobs (around 35 million) within industry sectors;
Shared services roles (around five million)
like facility management, transportation,
and accounting; household demand forservices (around 12 million); unskilled jobs
(approximately 37 million) across various
sectors of the economy.

2.1.3. Type of Gig Workers
Gig workers can be broadly classified into
platform and non-platform-based workers.
Non-platform gig workers are generally casual
wage workers and own-account workers in
the conventional sectors, working part-time
or full time. Platform workers are whose work
is based on online software apps or digitalplatforms. Location-based platforms allow
in-person work at specific locations, such asdelivery or driving while web-based platforms
enable workers to perform online tasks forclients around the world5.

2.1.4. Gig Worker Characteristics
Gig workers seem to differ from conventional
workers in terms of some individual
characteristics. Gig workers are comparatively
young, working for fewer hours a day on gig
work, preferring a flexible work schedule,
typically with low to middle level of education.
Income through gig work is not their primarysource of income and they are often holding
another regular job. They value transparent,
timely and assured payments while non-wage
benefits are not attractive to such workers.
Apart from these common characteristics
there are specific characteristics. For instance,
5

See Section 3.3 for a detailed classification of platform
labour categorised by reach and complexity oflabour.

women prefer high-skill segments withflexible work hours, to fulfil both their workand household commitments6. Students lookat the gig economy as an additional source ofincome. Similarly, students looking for partial
incomes with flexible schedules form a partof the gig workforce.

2.2 E
 STIMATING THE GIG WORK­FORCE: METHODOLOGYAs stated earlier, estimating gig workers inIndia is a challenge as there is no official or
widely accepted database that enumerates
gig workers. The primary difficulty arises fromthe amorphous nature of gig work. Perhaps
this heterogeneous nature of gig work is what
is generating the wide gaps in estimates of
gig workers, ranging anything from 3 million
workers to 14 million. Acknowledging thislimitation we embark on an indirect method
to estimate the number of gig workers
in India. From the literature cited above
and results of micro studies we are able toidentify proximate features of gig workers. We
use these features to estimate the workers.
Broadly the approach is to identify worker
characteristics (supply side) of gig workers
and then to estimate the number of workers
with these gig-worker like characteristics
within the industries and occupations thatdemand gig work (demand side).

6

While this has been observed for gig jobs with highcomplexity, women also take up location-specificplatform jobs such as providing professional home
services, delivering packages, or ferrying passengers,
as can be seen in Chapter 5. Thus, women value
flexibility and choice of labour allowing them tomonetise their skills and tangible assets when andwhere they want. This helps reframe the role ofwomen in public and private life. Thus, labour force
participation is no longer a binary decision between
household duties and economic aspirations, but
women now have the choice to work at will (Raman& Kulkarni, 2021).

12 | The Gig Workforce in India: Estimates and Projections

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Work2.2.1. Characteristics of Gig
Workersa.

Location: Gig work, especially locationbased gig work is largely concentrated in
the urban areas. An essential feature of
gig work is to be able to do small parcelsof tasks within a short period of time. In
order for such work to be economically
viable for workers, the search cost for jobs
must be low. Agglomeration economies
are crucial for such fragmented jobs to
be matched among workers, job creators(such as digital platforms), and final
clients. Gig work had remained local andnot grown in the past mainly due to thehuge coordination and monitoring costs
associated with such work. Information
Technology in the form of smartphonepowered
platforms
has
reducedthis transaction cost substantially inthe recent past, thus enabling thepossibility of gig work growing beyond
the local. The geographical spread ofgig work – now, much beyond local –however, is constrained by the needfor agglomerations to reap economies
of scale and scope. Hence, such work
remains largely urban, concentrated
within large cities of the country. Today,
though, there is penetration of suchservices in the hinterlands as well, i.e.
smaller urban formations (Tier 2 and3 cities). After analysing the locational
specificities of various platform-based
firms we found that a large share of
their operations were located within
metropolitan
cities.
Therefore,
weearmarked the districts with the top 100
cities in the country, as identified by the
Census of India 2011, assuming most of
gig work would be limited to these large
cities within the country. In this study,
while selecting the 100 metropolitan
cities of India (as per the census) fromthe NSSO-EUS & PLFS survey, we haveused a specific procedure based on theavailable datasets. For those cities whose
information is not available in the NSSO
datasets, we have considered the whole
district for the computation.We haveused both the urban as well as rural
samples for identifying the total numberof gig-platform workers as per the
specifications. While 100 cities are used
for the current estimate, it is noteworthy
that passenger mobility services using
two-wheelers (mopeds, scooters, bikes),
hyperlocal deliveries, and e-commerce
services, among others, have reachedover 300 cities in India as will be seen in
Section 3.5.3.
b.

Age Group: This study has included theage group of 18-45 years as the potential
age group for estimating workers in the
gig and platform sector. The selectionof this age group as a characteristic for
estimating workers in this sector may
lead to an underestimation, but is inline with the findings of a number ofstudies that have noted that gig workers
are young workers compared to non-gig
workers. A 2019 study shows that the
average age group of app-based taxi
drivers was concentrated within the agesof 18-45 years, while the age ranged from18 to 65 years for conventional taxi drivers(Ramachandran & Raman, 2021).

c.

Education: Growing evidence fromaround the world shows that work of alldegrees of complexity is giggable. Thus
gig work requires a range of skill sets. For
starters, manoeuvring a platform systemthrough complex interfaces of technology
and organisations may demand basic
levels of education. And for higher
complexity jobs such as accounting or
coding relevant educational qualifications
might be needed and even demanded byclients. In this backdrop, it is noteworthy

The Gig Workforce in India: Estimates and Projections | 13

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Workthat studies have found gig workers
in general to have educational levels
ranging between secondary school andgraduation, mirroring the larger trends in
the Indian economy where educational
levels are constantly rising. Thus, we use
this range in the level of education (i.e.
secondary school to graduation) as theproximate educational qualification of
typical gig workers.
d.

e.

f.

g.

Income Level: We assume that gig workis largely undertaken for augmentationof existing income, based on microstudies in India. Most of the jobs that are
getting gigged or platformized are theones with lower degrees of complexity.
From the above it can be deduced thatmost individuals belonging to the highincome category households may not
be part of the gig workforce, at least
for the time being. Treating this as ourbasic assumptions, we consider thoseworkers whose household consumption
expenditure was below the 75th percentile
of monthly per capita consumption
expenditure (MPCE) as potential gig
workers.

forms of payment are unviable. The
online banking system is an importantinnovation that enables and powers
the operation of the platform economy.
Hence, we assume that all workers whoare part of the gig economy require tohave a bank account7.

2.2.2. Occupation and Industrya.

Type of Employment: Gig work is
urbanised and operates mostly within the
non-agricultural sector of the economy.
We consider this feature as anothercharacteristic of the gig worker.
Ownership of Mobile Phones: All
platform-based gig workers requireownership or access to mobile phones orsimilar electronic devices to operate thesoftware interface. We consider that only
those workers who have mobile phones
are potential gig workers.
Bank Account: Most app-based or
platform-based services pay on piece
rate or task rate. The payment is done
only through authorised banks, as other

Occupation: Not all occupations are gig
work. Reading through the literature (BCG
and Michael & Susan Dell Foundation(2021), IBEF(2021), Fairwork India (2020),
Pesole A (2018) ILO (2020), Kässi, O., &Lehdonvirta, V. (2018), Berg, J., Furrer,
M., Harmon, E., Rani, U., & Silberman, M.
S. (2018, )it can be seen that there are
select occupations where gig work isconcentrated. Based on the literature, we
identify the following occupations fromthe National Classification of Occupation
2004 as occupations that have gig
workers.
i.

Computing Professionals

ii.

Architects, Engineers and RelatedProfessionals

iii.

Business Professionals

iv.

Computer Associate Professionalsv.

Optical and Electronic Equipment
Operatorsvi.

FinanceandProfessionals

Sales

Associatevii. Business Services Agents and Trade
Brokersviii. Secretaries and Keyboard-Operating
Clerksix.
7

Numerical Clerks

Notably, platforms help workers set up their bankaccounts and also facilitate their access to institutional
credit, as can be seen in the forthcoming chapters of
this report.

14 | The Gig Workforce in India: Estimates and Projections

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Workx.

Material Recording and Transport
Clerksv.

Division 47 Retail trade, except ofmotor vehicles and motorcycles

xi.

Cashiers, Tellers and Related Clerksvi.

Section H Transportation and storage

vii. Section I Accommodation and Food
service activitiesxii. Client Information Clerksxiii. Travel Attendants,
Related Workers

Guidesxiv. Housekeeping
andServices Workers
xv.

and

viii. Section
J
Information
communication

Restaurantix.

Section K Financial and insurance
activitiesx.

Section L Real estate activities

xi.

Section N Administrative
support service activities

Personal Care and Related Workers

xvi. Shop Salespersons and Demonstrators
xvii. Stall and Market Salespersonsxiii. Group 855
services

xix. Street Vendors and Related Workers
Helpers,

8

Industry: We identify from literature
the industries that have the largest
concentration of gig work or have thepotential to have a growth of gig work.
The identified industries from the
National Industrial Classification are as
follows.
i.

Section E Manufacturingii.

Section D Electricity, gas, steam andair conditioning supplies

iii.

Section E Water supply; sewerage,
waste management and remediation activities

iv.

Section F Construction

Today, any individual with access to a two-wheeler,with or without a commercial permit, can deliver
packages, food, groceries, medicines etc., in the digital
hyperlocal economy. Such individuals are different
from the traditional motor vehicle drivers who drive
vehicles with commercial permits alone. Thus, manyof these traditional occupational categories need to
be expanded and/ or redefined.

Educational

supportxiv. Division 87 Residential care activities
xv.

xxi. Building Caretakers, Window andRelated Cleanersb.

andxii. Group 854 Other education Groupxviii. Motor Vehicle Drivers8

xx. Domestic and Related
Cleaners and Launderers

andDivision 95 Repair of computers andpersonal and household goods

2.2.3 T he Procedure for Estimation
and Projectiona.

Estimating Employment
In India, the most acceptable andauthentic
sourceforcollecting
employment
estimatesisthe
National Sample Survey Organization(NSSO) cross-sectional EmploymentUnemployment Survey (EUS), andPeriodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS)
datasets.
Here,
ouraggregate
employment analysis is based on the
Usual Principal Status (UPS), and Usual
Principal Status and Subsidiary Status(UPSS) employment criteria as used in
the EUS and PLFS data. The employment
estimates are provided in the NIC2008 classification basis, whereas theoccupational characteristics use theNCO-2004 classification. Further, census
adjusted weights have been applied

The Gig Workforce in India: Estimates and Projections | 15

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Workfor estimating employment using the
NSSO-EUS and PLFS survey9.
b.

Employment Projections
Forestimatingtheemployment
projections from 2020-21 to 2029-30 at
the aggregate level as well as for the gig
workers, we have followed the weighted
average growth rate criteria. Here, wehave first estimated the aggregate
employment growth (CAGR) (also for
gig workers) from 2011-12 to 2017-18 andfrom 2017-18 to 2019-20. Afterwards, wehave estimated the weighted average
employment growth rate (WEGR) for
these two growth rates. This can bedepicted as,

WEGR =

belongs to any of the top 100 cities;

within the age group 18 to 45 years;

with an education level ranging
between secondary school tograduation;(EGR (2011 − 12 to 2017 − 18) × 6+EGR (2017 − 18 to 2019 − 20) × 2)

belongs to the bottom
percentile of MPCE10; and8

works in the non-agriculture sector.

(2029 − 30)
EGR=
WEGRi(2024 − 25) + 5 × WEGR
i

Estimation of Gig Workers
We use the aforementioned supply sideand demand side proximate featuresof gig work to estimate the volume
of gig workers in the country. We use
progressive filters to arrive at the numberof gig workers from the total population.
The base data source is the EUS of the
NSS and PLFS for the period 2011-12 to
2019-20.

9

In the next step we filter in that set ofworkers from the NSS and PLFS which
has the following characteristics:
(2024 − 25)
EGR=
WEGRi(2019 − 20) + 6 × WEGRic.

In the first step we estimate thetotal workforce from the population,
after using the workforce proportions
estimated from the NSS and PLFS. The
population is the projected population
for the respective years, based on the
Census of India 2011.

The census adjustment has been done on thebasis of Census and NSSO population data sets.
First the Weighted NSSO population figure wasestimated from the concerned NSSO employment
and unemployment rounds both for rural-urban
and male and female differently. After that, thegiven figures are divided by the concerned census
population figure. We have taken the census
figures from the Report of the Technical Group on
Population Projection, RGI, Census 2011. After getting
the respective ratios, they are multiplied with themultiplier figure to get the census adjusted weights.

75th

Two additional desirable filters, ownership ofmobile phones and bank account are notavailable in the NSS and PLFS data.
From the available sources, we haveconsidered the percentage of the population
having mobile phone penetration. Reduce for
estimating this, we have taken the informationfrom the World Bank estimates on mobile
phone penetration (World Bank, 2021). As
reported in the estimates we have considered
this share as 71.5% for the year 2011-12 andaccordingly taken the estimates as 87.3%
for the year 2017-18. As for the latest years
i.e., 2018-19 and 2019-20, the estimates havenot been provided, we have considered theestimates by 1% increment for the year 201819 (88.3%) and 2019-20 (89.3%) respectively. We
apply the same proportions for the filteredworkforce (working population) as estimatedfrom the NSS and PLFS data.

10 monthly per capita consumption expenditure

16 | The Gig Workforce in India: Estimates and Projections

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Work

After estimating the labour force using worker
characteristics we now apply industry andoccupation filters. From the NSS and PLFS
data set, we have the proportion of workers tototal workers engaged in the various selectedoccupations across the selected industries.
We apply these proportions to the filteredworkforce. After applying this, the sum totalof all workers in the selected industries andoccupations is the estimated gig workers.
The procedure for estimation, in short, is (a)to identify the potential workforce that canbe part of the gig workforce, through supplyside characteristics; (b) thereafter identify
the demand for such workers through gigintensive industries and occupations; (c)the intersection of the two, that of the gig
workforce and gig industry-occupation
provides the number of workers currently
estimated to be the gig workers.
As can be seen in the method above, theestimation method followed is indirect andonly identifies characteristics close to gig
work. The method has numerous limitations.
The first and most obvious is that we do
not have any direct indicator for gig work.
Had it been so, estimation would have beenstraightforward. The second limitation is that,even proxy variables are not very close proxies.
For instance, job characteristics such as taskbased or piece rate, interface with technology
and travelling or working at flexible time
are reasonably fitting characteristics of gig
workers. We do not have such informationin the data set, and are hence, constrained
to work with the available information.
Nevertheless, the available information does
throw some light on the prevalence of gig
workers in the economy. We feel that though
this method is imperfect, this is a reasonably
robust direction of enquiry when limited bydata constraints.

Employment Datasets in India
Different employment datasets havebeen used in India to understand thechanging contours of employment in the
Indian labour market. Broadly, the labour
statistics are collected, compiled, anddisseminated by several agencies in India.
The most prominent of them are that of
NSSO Employment and Unemployment(EUS) datasets and recently the Periodic
Labour Force Survey datasets.
The main objective of the employment
and unemployment surveys conducted by
NSSO at periodic interval is to get estimatesof various labour force characteristics atthe national and State/UT level. Various
employment datasets include,
1-NSSO Employment and Unemployment Datasets (EUS) (1972-73 to 2011-12) –These datasets are available in quinquennial round basis from 1972-73 to 2011-12.
The employment information is available
as per Usual Principal Status, Usual Principal and Subsidiary Status, Current Weekly Status and Current Daily Status criteria.
These surveys also provide employment
estimates across different industry groups
and socioeconomic characteristics.
2-Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS)2017-18 to 2019-20 – One, unlike thequinquennial EUS, the PLFS is conductedannually in rural areas and quarterly inurban areas.
Both the surveys are based on the stratified
random sampling procedure, but thecriterion for the second-stage stratum in
the EUS is based on the consumption
expenditure and/or livelihoods, whereas
for PLFS, it is based on levels of education(Padhi and Motkuri, 2021).

The Gig Workforce in India: Estimates and Projections | 17

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of WorkIn the PLFS, households in each of theselected villages (the primary sampling
unit or PSU) were stratified into threesegments based on the presence of
educated household members.
There is also a revisit sample in the PLFS
survey for the urban area. Further, thewage information related to self employedworkers has been provided in the PLFS
survey which is not available in the earlier
EUS surveys.
3-Labour Bureau Employment Survey-2009-10 to 2015-16 – Responding todiscontentment of NSSO EUS, the Labour
Bureau started conducting the yearly Employment and Unemployment survey. This
study has been discontinued.
4-Annual Survey of Industries – Yearly
Information only related to registered
manufacturing and industries, however
services are not included. But it provides adetailed information related to registered
manufacturing in India.
5-CMIE Datasets (2016 to 2021) – The
Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy(CMIE) is a private business information
organisation
conducts
surveyon
employment and unemployment since2016. The consumer pyramid survey covers
about 160000 households and 522000
individuals (Abraham and Shrivastava,2019). It provides up-to-date information
on employment and unemployment inIndia but uses different methodologies for
estimation of employment. Due to this, it
may not be strictly comparable to otherofficial estimates related to employment.

2.3. E MPLOYMENT, GDP, AND
EMPLOYMENT GROWTH IN
INDIA
2.3.1. Estimates
2019-20for

2011-12to

The estimated employment during 2011-12
was 46.99 crores which increased to 51.1 croresin 2019-20. Correspondingly the output also
increased from 87 lakh crores to 145 lakhcrores during the same period.
Table 1: Estimated Output and
Employment levels and growth 2011-12 to
2019-20
Employment
Output(in crores)(in crores)

Per worker
output2011-1246.998736328.71

185904.09

2017-1845.50

13144582.14

288863.92

2018-1946.75

14003316.25

299551.35

2019-2051.10

14569267.87

285101.41

The employment growth during the period
was -0.54% per annum during 2011-12 to
2017-18. During the same period output
grew at 7.05% per annum exhibiting thejobless growth trends. The period after 201718 shows robust increase in employment, but
the output growth slowed down below 7%
during the period. The employment elasticity
during the period 2017-18 to 2019-20 was 1.13,
showing robust employment growth with
output growth, compared to the joblessgrowth period of 2011-12 to 2017-18.
Table 2: Employment Growth and Elasticity
Growth rates(annual)Employ­Employment
Outputment
Elasticity

2011-12 to 2017-18

-0.54

7.05

-0.0762017-18 to 2018-19

2.73

6.53

0.418

2018-19 to 2019-20

9.31

4.04

2.305

2017-18 to 2019-20

5.97

5.28

1.131

18 | The Gig Workforce in India: Estimates and Projections

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Work2.3.2. Projections for 2021-2030
Based on the employment growth patternduring the period 2011-12 to 2019-20, theemployment growth and output growth
rates are projected for the period 2021 to2030 as weighted average growth rate for theperiod 2011-12 to 2019-20. Of course, this is anapproximation to assume that the economy
would grow in future at the same rate as in
the past.
Table 3: Projected GDP Growth,
Employment Growth for 2021 to 2030
Employment
GrowthGDP
growth2011-12 to 2017-18-0.5357.046

2017-18 to 2019-20

5.972

5.280

2019-20 to 2024-25

1.092

3.692

2024-25 to 2029-30

1.092

7.000

Based on the projections the employment
growth may increase from 46.9 crores to 56.9
crores by 2030 while the GDP may increase
from INR 87 lakh crores in 2011-12 to INR 244
lakh crore by 2029-30.
Table 4: Projected GDP and Employment
Levels for 2021 to 2030
Employment(Crores)GDP(Crores)

2011-1246.998736329

2012-1346.74

92130172013-1446.49

9801370

2014-1546.24

10527674

2015-1646.00

11369493

2016-1745.75

12308193

2017-1845.50

13144582

2018-1946.75

14003316

2019-2051.10

14569268

2020-2151.66

2021-22

Employment(Crores)GDP(Crores)

2024-2553.95

17464914

2025-26

54.54

18687458

2026-27

55.14

19995580

2027-2855.74

21395271

2028-2956.35

22892939

2029-3056.96

24495445

2.4. E STIMATE OF GIG
WORKERS
Using the methods described above, theestimated size of gig workers in India was
about 68 lakh, using both principal andsubsidiary status. The total number of workers
increased from about 25 lakh in 2011-12 to 68
lakh in 2019-20. The number of gig workers
who spend the majority part of the reference
year as gig workers (Usual Principal Status)
were 24.5 lakh in 2011-12 which increased
to 67 lakh in 2019-20. Those that did suchwork for a shorter period of the year (Usual
Subsidiary Status) increased from about
0.7 lakhs to 1.1 lakhs during 2011-12 to 201920. As mentioned above, these are workers
that have gig worker like characteristics, witha possible over-estimation as some of theseworkers may not be engaged in gig work.
Table 5: Estimated Number of Gig Workers
in Lakhs
No.of Gig
workers(UPS)

No.of Gig
workers(USS)

No.of Gig
workers(UPSS)

2011-12

24.5

0.7

25.2

2017-18

52.1

0.5

52.6

2018-19

53.4

0.5

53.9

13512740

2019-20

67.0

1.1

68.0

52.22

14323504

2022-2352.79

15254532

2023-24

53.37

16322349

As per our estimates only a small fraction of
the total workforce is part of the gig workforce
as of now. Currently, about 1.33% of the total

The Gig Workforce in India: Estimates and Projections | 19

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Work

workers (UPSS) are gig workers. In termsof UPS workers it was 1.37% and subsidiarystatus was only 0.49% of the subsidiary
workers. However, it can be seen that there
is a steady increase in the share of gig workers
in total workers, from 0.54% in 2011-12 to 1.33%
in 2019-20.
Table 6: Gig Workers as a Share of Total
Workforce 2011-12 to 2019-20
Share of
Share of
Share ofGig workers Gig workers Gig workers
(UPS)
(USS)
(UPSS)
2011-12

0.57

0.18

0.54

2017-18

1.18

0.40

1.16

2018-19

1.18

0.28

1.15

2019-20

1.37

0.49

1.33

The increase in the share of gig workers
over the period is corroborated by thedifference in employment elasticity as well.
The employment elasticity to GDP growthfor gig workers was above one throughout
the period 2011-12 to 2019-20, and was always
above the overall employment elasticity.
During this period the employment growth
was nearly twice that of the GDP growth. The
higher employment elasticity for gig workers
also indicates the nature of economic growth,which created greater demand for gig workers
while not generating commensurate demand
for non-gig workers. This nature of economic
growth points towards greater conversion of
non-gig work to that of gig-work.
Table 7: Gig Work Employment Elasticity
Gig workAll
Employ­ GDP Gig work employ­ment growth Elasticity ment
growthelasticity
2011-12 to
2017-18

13.020

7.046

1.848

-0.0762017-18 to
2019-20

13.750

5.280

2.604

1.131

Our estimates show that about 37.6% of
these workers are in the organised sector,

while the remaining are in the unorganised
sector. Organised sector is taken to be thoseworkers who work in firms with more thanten employees as is currently the common
definition used. It can be seen that the shareof gig workers is largely concentrated in theunorganised sector, about 62.4% of the total
gig workers in 2019-20. Yet the share of gig
workers in the organised sector is increasing,
implying that more of such workers are
now being part of larger firms. The share
increased from 26% in 2011-12 to 37.6% in
2019-20, correspondingly the share of theunorganised sector declined. The future
course of development of gig work indicates
growth within the organised sector.
Table 8: Share of Gig Workers in the
Organised and Unorganised Sectors% inorganisedsector% inunorganised
sectorTotal

2011-12

25.9

74.1

100

2017-18

30.6

69.4

100

2018-19

35.7

64.3

100

2019-20

37.6

62.4

100

However, when the share of workers in theorganised sector increased substantiallyduring the period, the share of informal
workers remained more or less the same, oreven marginally increased. Based on previous
studies (Srivastava and Naik (2016) andSrivastava et al. (2020)), informal workers aredefined as those workers who do not havea written contract for at least a year and areworking in the non-agricultural sector. Morethan 80% of such workers were in informal
labour relations. This share was at 83.7% in
2011-12 which declined to 81.8% in 2017-18,
but increased to 82.5% in 2019-20. Thus there
is persistence of informal work relations inthe sector. When we read this along withthe trends in the organised sector, it can be

20 | The Gig Workforce in India: Estimates and Projections

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Work

Table 9: Gig Workers: Formal and Informal
Workers Shareseen informal work is now penetrating theorganised sector workforce through the gig
and platform modes of work. Informalisationof the organised sector is recorded in previous
studies (Abraham and Sasikumar, 2017), butthese were mainly on account of contractual
employment rising within the organised
sector. But the trends above shows that apartfrom contractual employment within theorganised sector, gig or task based forms of
employment is also adding to the informality
in the organised sector.

FormalInformal

Total

2011-12

16.3

83.7

100

2017-18

18.2

81.8

100

2018-19

18.6

81.4

100

2019-20

17.5

82.5

100

In terms of industrial classification, about
26.6 lakh gig workers were involved in retailtrade and sales, and about 1.3 million werein the transportation sector. About 6.2 lakhs
were in the manufacturing and another6.3 lakhs in the finance and insurance
activities. It can also be seen that gig work
is expanding fast in almost all sectors. For
instance the retail sector saw an increaseof 15 lakh workers during 2011-12 to 2019-20,transport sector 7.8 lakhs, manufacturing – 3.9
lakhs. Similarly, in the education sector, theexpansion was from 66,000 to more than one
lakh by 2019-20.

It is important to situate the above in thelarger context of India having more than
90% of its workforce in the unorganised,
informal economy traditionally, as well
(NCEUS, 2007; Ramana Murthy, 2019; The
Economic Survey 2018-19). As will be seen in
the forthcoming chapters of this report, thetrends of formalisation and organisation differ
by countries, and are highly contextualised.

Table 10: Industrial Classification of Gig Workers in Lakhs (2011-12 to 2019-20)
National Industrial Classification 2008
(NIC-2008)2011-122017-18

2018-192019-20

Change2011-12 to 19-20

Manufacturing

2.3

5.5

5.4

6.2

3.9

Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning
supplies

0.2

0.4

0.4

0.2

0.1

Water supply; sewerage, waste management
and remediation activities

0.0

0.3

0.3

0.3

0.3

Construction

0.3

1.2

1.4

2.1

1.8

Retail trade, except of motor vehicles andmotorcycles

10.6

19.2

21.7

26.5

15.9

Transportation and storage

5.2

11.0

9.4

13.0

7.8

Accommodation and Food service activities

1.4

3.2

2.8

4.0

2.7

Information and communication

1.6

4.2

4.2

5.0

3.4

Financial and insurance activities

2.4

4.1

4.8

6.3

3.9

Real estate activities

0.4

2.0

1.5

2.4

2.0

Administrative and support service activities

0.2

0.2

0.4

0.4

0.2

Other education Group

0.0

0.2

0.3

0.5

0.4

Educational support services

0.7

1.2

1.3

1.1

0.4

25.2

52.6

53.9

68.0

42.8

Total

The Gig Workforce in India: Estimates and Projections | 21

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of WorkIt can be noted that even as gig workers
are increasing in all the sectors highlighted
below, the sectoral concentration in highly
concentrated sectors is gradually declining
as well. For instance, the retail trade sector
accounted for nearly 42% of all gig workers
which declined to 39% by 2019-20. For thetransportation sector, the share declined from
20.7 % to 19.1% in 2019-20. The real estate sector
increased from 1.7% to 3.5% and construction
increased from 1.2% to 3.06% during thesame period. The estimates thus show that
gig workers are growing in all sectors, andthe share of gig workers is also increasing
in sectors that were not initially having
gig workers. In terms of future projections,
growth and diversification of gig workers
across industries is a clear indication that gig
work would expand further and may be a key
form of employment in future, though it isrelatively small today.

Table 11: Industrial Classification of Gig Workers in Percentage Share (2011-12 to 2019-20)
National Industrial Classification 2008 (NIC-2008)2011-122017-18

2018-192019-20

Manufacturing

9.09

10.50

10.03

9.17

Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supplies

0.69

0.67

0.73

0.33

Water supply; sewerage, waste management andremediation activities

0.00

0.59

0.49

0.47

Construction

1.24

2.31

2.58

3.06

Retail trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles

41.97

36.48

40.30

38.95

Transportation and storage

20.69

20.86

17.40

19.18

Accommodation and Food service activities

5.49

6.05

5.20

5.94

Information and communication

6.43

7.91

7.74

7.39

Financial and insurance activities

9.32

7.78

8.98

9.21

Real estate activities

1.72

3.77

2.84

3.53

Administrative and support service activities

0.64

0.36

0.68

0.55

Other education Group

0.08

0.38

0.58

0.67

Educational support services

2.64

2.34

2.44

1.56

100.00100.00100.00100.00Total

In terms of occupation in 2019-20, about
22 lakh workers were sales and marketing
persons, about 12 lakh were motor vehicle
drivers, about 6 lakh were secretaries and clerks,
about 5 lakh sales and finance associates,and others. Between 2011-12 and 2019-20,
the largest addition in the gig economy wasshop sales and market sales persons which
increased by 12 lakh workers, followed bydrivers which increased by 8.5 lakh.

22 | The Gig Workforce in India: Estimates and Projections

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Work

Table 12: Occupational Classification of Gig Workers in Numbers (2011-12 to 2019-20)
National Classification of Occupation-2004

2011-12 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20

Change2011-12 to 19-20

Computing Professionals

0.4

1.8

2.2

2.7

2.3

Architects, Engineers and Related Professionals

0.5

1.0

1.6

1.7

1.2

Business Professionals

2.0

2.6

3.0

3.8

1.9

Computer Associate Professionals & Optical andElectronic Equipment Operators

0.4

2.6

1.7

1.6

1.2

Finance and Sales Associate Professionals &Business Services Agents and Trade Brokers

1.3

3.3

3.4

5.2

3.8

Secretaries and Keyboard Operating Clerks &Numerical Clerks & Material Recording & Transport
Clerks

2.4

3.4

2.8

6.2

3.8

Cashiers, Tellers and Related Clerks & Client
Information Clerks

0.9

1.6

1.7

2.0

1.2

Travel Attendants, Guides and Related Workers

0.3

0.7

0.3

0.9

0.5

Housekeeping and Restaurant Services Workers &Personal Care Workers

1.4

2.6

3.0

3.9

2.5

Shop Salespersons and Demonstrators & Stall andMarket Salespersons

9.9

18.9

22.0

22.8

12.9

Motor Vehicle Drivers

4.4

10.9

9.2

13.0

8.5

Street Vendors and Related Workers

0.8

1.5

1.7

2.6

1.8

Domestic and Related Helpers, Cleaners andLaunderers

0.6

1.4

1.0

1.7

1.1

Building Caretakers, Window and Related Cleaners

0.0

0.2

0.2

0.1

0.1

Total

25.2

52.6

53.9

68.0

42.8

Two occupational segments namely, drivers
and sales persons, together accounted formore than 52% of the gig workers in 2019-20.

During the earlier period 2011-12 to 2017-18 theshare of these two segments remained moreor less consistent at about 57%.

Table 13: Occupational Classification of Gig Workers in Shares (2011-12 to 2019-20)
National Classification of Occupation-2004

2011-122017-18

2018-192019-20

Computing Professionals

1.47

3.44

4.15

3.96

Architects, Engineers and Related Professionals

1.80

1.88

2.91

2.43

Business Professionals

7.84

5.00

5.53

5.63

Computer Associate Professionals & Optical and Electronic
Equipment Operators

1.46

4.92

3.16

2.33

Finance and Sales Associate Professionals & Business Services
Agents and Trade Brokers

5.34

6.31

6.32

7.60

Secretaries and Keyboard Operating Clerks & Numerical Clerks& Material Recording & Transport Clerks

9.33

6.53

5.11

9.05

Cashiers, Tellers and Related Clerks & Client Information Clerks

3.46

2.97

3.18

3.01

Travel Attendants, Guides and Related Workers

1.32

1.27

0.57

1.27

The Gig Workforce in India: Estimates and Projections | 23

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Work

National Classification of Occupation-2004

2011-122017-18

2018-192019-20

Housekeeping and Restaurant Services Workers & Personal
Care Workers

5.39

4.99

5.63

5.68

Shop Salespersons and Demonstrators & Stall and Market
Salespersons

39.31

35.98

40.80

33.53

Motor Vehicle Drivers

17.62

20.80

17.12

19.06

Street Vendors and Related Workers

3.29

2.78

3.19

3.86

Domestic and Related Helpers, Cleaners and Launderers

2.36

2.68

1.92

2.43

Building Caretakers, Window and Related Cleaners

0.00

0.44

0.41

0.17

100.00100.00100.00100.00Total

2.5. PROJECTIONS FOR GIG
WORK IN INDIA
Based on the following projections, the gig
workforce is likely to expand from 68 lakhs (6.8
million) in 2019-20 and 77 lakhs (7.7 million) in

2020-21 to about 2.35 crores (23.5 million) by
2029-30. The gig workforce is expected to growfrom 2.6% of the non-agricultural workforce or
1.5% of the total workforce in 2020-21 to 6.7%of the non-agricultural workforce or 4.1% of
the total livelihood in India by 2029-30.

Table 14: Projection for Gig Work using Employment Growth
Employment in Crores

Percentage

Employment

Non-AgriEmployment

Gig
Workers% of Non
Agri to total
EmployGig tototal
EmployGig toNon Agri.

2011-12 (actuals)

46.99

24.52

0.25

52.18

0.54

1.03

2017-18 (actuals)

45.50

26.38

0.53

57.98

1.16

1.99

2018-19 (actuals)

46.75

27.62

0.54

59.09

1.15

1.95

2019-20 (actuals)

51.10

28.79

0.68

56.34

1.33

2.36

2020-21 (projected)

51.66

29.37

0.77

56.86

1.49

2.62

2021-22 (projected)

52.22

29.97

0.87

57.39

1.67

2.91

2022-23 (projected)

52.79

30.58

0.99

57.93

1.87

3.23

2023-24 (projected)

53.37

31.20

1.12

58.47

2.09

3.58

2024-25 (projected)

53.95

31.84

1.27

59.01

2.34

3.97

2025-26 (projected)

54.54

32.49

1.43

59.56

2.63

4.41

2026-27 (projected)

55.14

33.15

1.62

60.12

2.94

4.89

2027-28 (projected)

55.74

33.82

1.84

60.68

3.29

5.42

2028-29 (projected)

56.35

34.51

2.08

61.25

3.69

6.02

2029-30 (projected)

56.96

35.21

2.35

61.82

4.13

6.68

24 | The Gig Workforce in India: Estimates and Projections

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of WorkAt present about 47% of the gig work is in
medium skilled jobs, about 22% in high skilled
and about 31% in low skilled jobs. But thetrend shows the concentration of workers
in medium skills is gradually declining andthat of the low skilled and high skilled isincreasing. It may be expected that while
the domination of medium skills would
continue till 2030, gig work with other skills

will emerge. Possibly the share of high skilled
gig workers would increase from the present
level of 21.9% to about 27.5% by 2030 while
for the low skilled workers it may increase
to about 33.8% by 2030. In effect this trend
would imply that gig work will grow in size
and would become part of the livelihood
across sectors and occupations.

Table 15: Projections of % share of gigwork employment by skill category 2021-2030
High skilled

Medium skilled

Low skilled

Total

2011-12 (Actuals)

17.9

53.4

28.7

100

2019-20 (Actuals)

21.9

46.9

31.2

100

2020-21 (proj)

22.5

46.0

31.5

100

2024-25 (proj)

24.7

42.8

32.6

100

2029-30 (proj)

27.5

38.7

33.8

100

2.6. SUMMARY ON GIG
WORKER SIZE ESTIMATIONIn the backdrop of a complete lack of dataon gig workers in India, we have attempted
to estimate the number of gig workers using
an indirect and novel method. The approachis to identify proximate indicators that would
jointly have a high likelihood of identifying gig
workers. Using this approach we have traced
a few supply side and demand side factors
to estimate the number of gig workers. It
may be appropriate to name this estimate as
the estimate of “workers with gig worker-likecharacteristics” rather than terming it as an
estimate of gig workers themselves.
Based on this method, we estimate that
there were around 68 lakh (6.8 million) gig
workers in India in 2019-20, constituting 2.4%of the non-farm workforce or 1.3% of the total
livelihood in India. Of these workers, about
half are concentrated in two sectors, retailtrade and transportation. Also about half of
the workers are engaged in the occupationsof sales and driving. Both industrial andoccupational characteristics show that gig
work is expanding and diversifying into moreindustries and more occupations. Though anincreasing share of gig workers are a part ofthe organised sector – about 36% in 2019-20– the overwhelming majority of gig workers
are informal workers (more than 82.5%). Thisis unsurprising since over 90% of India’s
workforce is informal.
Based on our projections, we estimate thatIndia had around 77 lakh (7.7 million) gig
workers in 2020-21, forming 2.6% of the nonagricultural workforce and 1.5% of the total
livelihood in India. Our projections further
show that gig work in India is likely to expandin the future to touch about 2.35 crore (23.5
million) workers, accounting for about 6.7%of the non-agricultural workforce and 4.1 %of the total workforce by 2030. Additionally,
the estimates show that gig work, which isconcentrated in middle level skills currently,
is likely to diversify into both high skilled andlow skilled types of gig work in the future.

The Gig Workforce in India: Estimates and Projections | 25

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Work

2.7. R ECOMMENDATIONS FOR
ESTIMATIONAs discussed earlier, this estimation is anindirect method to arrive at the number of
gig workers. Gig work is bound to expand dueto the technological possibilities in numerous
production spaces. At the same time, it also
provides the opportunity for workers totranscend the limitations of work-time andwork-space. Given this potential of gig work,
the future would see a growing prominenceof such work. However, there exists no official
data that can authoritatively estimate theextent of gig work in India, thereby rendering
the gig workforce invisible. This calls forthe following recommendations for future
estimations.

2.7.1. Undertake a Separate Enumeration Exercise
Ideally the national statistical system could
embark on estimating gig workers, and othersuch workers who enter the workforce in
non-conventional labour relations. A separate
survey may be undertaken for estimation andidentifying the characteristic features of gig
workers.

2.7.2. Collect Information to Identify Gig Workers

workers The Periodic Labour Force Survey,
for instance, could collect information on
the following aspects that could identify gig
workers.
a.

b.

One of the primary characteristics ofgig workers is the freelance nature ofwork. The work is task based. To identify
workers of this nature a set of questions
regarding the nature of work contract cangive us insights on this. For instance, thenature of contract can be enumerated as
the following.
i.

Task based contractii.

Contract as partneriii.

Job Contractiv.

No contract

Another characteristic of gig workers isthe use of technology. Questions of thefollowing type may help in exploring thisdimension.
i.

Use of Information Technology in
work

ii.

Use of ICT as an aid to identify tasks(app-based, software-based work
allotment)iii.

Conducting ICT-enabled services

iv.

Production of ICT goods and services

Additionally, there could be a few probing
questions that explore further to identify gig

26 | The Gig Workforce in India: Estimates and Projections

3

Technology Diffusion
and Democratisationof Jobs

The digital has permeated all aspects of life,
entailing the platformization of the everyday(Ramachandran, 2020). This could take many
shapes and forms such as digital platforms
that connect buyers and sellers of groceries,
medicines, technology products and services,
as well as those that allow consumers toaccess a ride in a cab or bike, home cleaning
services, professional beauty and wellness
services, and much more. Individuals can now
easily use their skill sets and earn a livelihood
online.

The consequent digitalisation/ platformizationof work has given rise to a new classification oflabour – platform labour – different from thetraditional dichotomy of formal and informal
labour. Platform labour has emerged andgrown over the last decade thanks to theubiquity of smartphones and mobile data.
Since the entry barriers to such work are low,
platforms hold enormous potential to unlock
millions of jobs in India (BCG and Michael &Susan Dell Foundation, 2021; Ramachandran& Raman, 2021; IBEF, 2021; ASSOCHAM &Primus Partners, 2021).

28 | Technology Diffusion and Democratisation of Jobs

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Workcooking or plumbing – can monetise theirassets at will, to become platform workers(Sundararajan, 2016; Raman & Kulkarni, 2021).

3.1. CONTOURS OF THE
PLATFORM ECONOMY
The contemporary labour market has
witnessed the emergence of two new
categories of work, gig and platform work,
respectively. To understand what each formof work entails, how they might be different
from each other and from other forms ofwork, and what the new categories mean for
the Indian economy, we turn to India’s labour
reforms of the 2020s.
The Government of India enacted the Codeon Social Security (CoSS) 2020, granting
legitimacy to the new form of work andpaving the way for comprehensive reforms.
CoSS 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”. Further, a platform worker isrecognised as a type of gig worker, in thatthey are “a person engaged in or undertaking
platform work, while platform work is ‘a work
arrangement outside of a traditional employer
employee relationship in which organisations
or individuals use an online platform toaccess other organisations or individuals tosolve specific problems or to provide specificservices or any such other activities which
may be notified by the Central Government,
in exchange for payment” (Ministry of Labourand Employment, 2020a).
Marking a distinction between platformworkers and unorganised, informal workers,
the CoSS 2020 further recognises platformworkers as a step up from the latter.
Platform workers enjoy flexibility and choiceof labour, ability to hold multiple jobs,
guaranteed payments, augmentation ofassets, heightened earnings etc. In a platform
economy, individuals merely armed with aninternet-enabled smartphone and an asset– such as the tangible vehicle (motorised oreven non-motorised) or the intangible skill of

The platform economy comprises digitalintermediaries or aggregators that offer
innovative
solutionsthroughsolving
inefficiencies in a system, thereby improving
productivity. A mobility aggregator platform,
for instance, efficiently bridges the gap
between supply and demand, creating
economies of scale. Hence, it increases theearnings of its driver-partners, while providing
affordable mobility solutions to consumers. In
the larger picture, digital platforms increase
economic output and have a tremendous
positive impact on the labour market. This
ever-expanding platform economy has
demonstrated resilience, reinforcing the roleof such workers, especially in the times of
the Covid-19 pandemic, when several othersectors of the economy were adversely
impacted (ILO, 2021; IWWAGE 2020; Raman,
Ramachandran & Sasikumar, 2021).

3.2. L IVELIHOOD CREATION
THROUGH PLATFORM
WORKOffering innovative solutions in different
sectors, such as passenger mobility andhyperlocal delivery, retail, and personal andhome care, platforms can create livelihood
opportunities for any willing individual, be it
students, home makers, store owners or eventhose already engaged in the informal sector.
With access to internet-enabled smartphones
and a monetisable tangible or intangible
asset, any individual can turn into a platformworker. Such low entry barriers, along withthe flexibility to hold multiple jobs, grant theplatform economy an immense potential
to leverage India’s demographic dividend –more than 400 million millennials (Morgan
Stanley, 2017).

Technology Diffusion and Democratisation of Jobs | 29

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Work

Platforms generate self-employment andspace to improve or augment one’s income.
This flexibility and choice, being the corecharacteristic of platform work, makes it
attractive for the masses. Consider the caseof two-wheelers in India. India is the world’s
largest two-wheeler market, with the small
form factor emerging as the engine of growth
for the booming hyperlocal economy in recent
years. Sharing of assets such as scooters or
motorbikes (in the form of bike taxis or bikepool) unlocks remunerative opportunities in
the millions while also providing first- andlast-mile connectivity to public transit, and anaffordable form of daily commute for the publicat large. A 2020 study estimates that biketaxi in India has the potential to create over 2
million livelihood opportunities and a revenueof USD 4-5 billion (Raman, 2020). Likewise, overthe long term, the number of gig jobs in India
could reach 90 million, with total transactions
valued at more than $250 billion (BCG andMichael & Susan Dell Foundation, 2021).

2021; BusinessWire, 2021). Such accelerated
growth appears to be the cornerstone ofplatform businesses across sectors, including
the restaurant aggregation, and food delivery
domains as well. Zomato, for instance, reported
earning INR 2,604 crores in the financial year
2019-‘20, signifying a 5.5-times growth from2017-‘18. The platform witnessed 10.7 million
active customers ordering food every monthfrom 131,233 active restaurants, and servedby 161,637 active delivery partners (Alawadhi& Abrar, 2021). Similarly, the platform Swiggy,
which has diversified its business to include
grocery delivery and package transfers in
addition to food delivery, reported engaging
150,000 delivery partners as of June 2021
(PTI, 2021). Notwithstanding the small- andmedium-sized platforms offering passenger
mobility and delivery services across India, theaforementioned major platform businesses
in the said domain alone engage 3,329,637
workers, i.e. over 3.3 million workers (Raman,
Ramachandran, Sasikumar, 2021).

No wonder, India is a fertile ground forplatform jobs. Between 2010 and 2018,
mobility aggregators – Ola and Uber – alone
are reported to have unlocked 2.2 million
livelihood opportunities in the country(Pradhan, 2019). These included driving
jobs using taxi-cabs, auto-rickshaws, andthe ubiquitous two-wheelers (scooters andmotorbikes) as taxis. By early 2020, Ola biketaxi service was operational in 200 cities
in India and engaging over 300,000 bikepartners. Another bike-taxi company, Rapido,
was present in over 90 cities as of March 2020,
with 500,000 driver-partners catering to 10
million customers (Raman, 2020). Dunzo, thefast-growing on-demand quick commerce
platform, used to engage 18,000 active delivery
partners including cyclists in late 2019 (Apurva,2019), and has reported a 40-times growth in
the period 2019-‘21, fuelled by the pandemicinduced surge in demand for convenienceand availability of platform labour (Akolawala,

Notably, this workforce of 3.3 million platformworkers in the digitalised passenger mobility
and hyperlocal delivery services, with thepotential to grow in the years to come, is higher
than the 1.254 million employees engaged by
the Indian Railways, India’s largest and theworld’s eighth-largest employer (Ministry ofRailways, 2020), and the 500,000 headcountof the Tata Consultancy Services, India’s largest
private-sector employer (ET Bureau, 2021).
As has been estimated in Chapter 2, in 201920, India had around 68 lakh (6.8 million) gig
workers – of whom platform workers are asubset – in 2019-20, forming 2.4% of the nonfarm workforce or 1.3% of the total livelihoodin the country. It is projected that in 2020-21,
77 lakh (7.7 million) workers were engaged in
the gig economy. They constituted 2.6% of the
non-agricultural workforce or 1.5% of the total
workforce in India. Our projections further showthat gig work is likely to expand in the future
to touch about 2.35 crore (23.5 million) workers,

30 | Technology Diffusion and Democratisation of Jobs

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Work

6.7% of the non-agricultural workforce or 4.1%of the total livelihood in India by 2029-30. In
effect, this trend would imply that gig work
will grow in size and would become part ofthe livelihood across sectors and occupations.

phenomenon has been carefully crafted tosolve inefficiencies in the system. This is done
so by plugging in a tech tool to streamline
the process with an algorithmic coherence,
benefiting service providers and end-users
alike.

3.3. E VOLUTION OF PLATFORM
JOBS

While many differences exist between
countries and regions when it comes to thegenesis of platform labour, there is a sharedstory of tech-induced efficiency and its rapid
adoption. While in the North American cities,
it was the desire to summon a cab at the pressof a button rather than waiting in long queues
at public transit hubs, in emerging economies
like Indian cities, it was the dual need toenhance the efficiency of Intermediate Public
Transit (IPT) options (forthcoming by Ola
Mobility Institute & CUTS International, 2022) toincrease accessibility to mass transit as well as
to create millions of job opportunities in urban
mobility (Randolph, Galperin & Khan, 2019).

Widespread access to the internet throughaffordable data and devices has contributed
to the proliferation of platform-based services
across the world. Platforms also display agreat deal of interoperability, integrating
multiple services for an end-to-end user
experience, but also in the process, creating
as many more employment opportunities
from their single app. For instance, Grab, thepopular platform present in Southeast Asia,
offers multiple mobility options (car, bike,scooter), food, groceries, last mile logistics,
hotels, entertainment, and a mobile walletand insurance service, all in one app (Grab,
2020). Through this they serve drivers,
merchants and enterprises in their local areaof operations. Other forms of cross-platform
collaborations and interoperability are seen in
instances such as a Swiggy delivery person inIndia using a shared Bounce bike to complete
orders, eliminating the need for asset
ownership thanks to the deep entrenchmentof the digital economy.
By their very nature, platforms have a wide
reach and nearly no entry barriers for theirworkers (referred to as partners11). Jobs in thedigital age vary by country. In some countries,
particularly the more industrialised ones,
digital platform solutions emerged in thewake of an economic downturn leading to
the eventual informalisation of jobs (Morozov,2018). In developing countries like India, the11Partners are independent contractors associatedwith a technology platform where they offer/
advertise their services so that end users (citizens)can find them.

Matrix 1: Types of Digital Livelihood, andWhere Platform Work Falls
Type &
Experienceof workGlobal Reach

Local Reach

Sales

Websites thatadvertise andsell handmade/artisanal goods
etc.

e-commerce
platforms thathost homegrown labels andbrandsOnline microwLower
ork platforms
complexity;
like data entry,
on-demand
survey adminisservices
tration etc.

Location-based
platform services
like passenger
mobility, fooddeliveryHighercomplexity;
scheduledservices

OnlineLocation-based
freelancing
staffing platforms
consultations
that require
like design,
on-site presence
copy-editing,like homecreative, legal
improvement,
and compliancewellness, logistics
advisory

Source: Adapted from World Economic Forum, 2020;
Caribou Digital 2020, ILO 2021, Ramachandran &Raman, 2021

Technology Diffusion and Democratisation of Jobs | 31

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Work

Matrix 1 shows a broad classification of
platform work based on locationality andthe skill spectrum that the workers inhabit.
This is a lucid classification of platform-based
work around the world and illustrates thelevel of complexity of tasks and the mode ofwork being done. In much of the developingworld, the type of work described under“online microtasking” found rapid uptake aswell as mass adoption. India is one of theearly adopters of information labour12, due tomassive outsourcing from capital-intensive
countries. Indian workers, as well as thosefrom the Philippines or parts of Africa, areno strangers to piecemeal IT-based tasks,
undertaken in a freelance fashion or on acontract with an incorporated KPO (Graham,
Hjorth & Lehdonvirta, 2017; Graham et al, 2017).
While online freelancing has gained popularity
in recent years, platform companies thathave the highest visibility and the mostdirect impact on city life are those that fallunder location-based staffing & services.
These services involve many e-commercecompanies that provide livelihoods to millions
of individuals, who in turn, serve several
millions more by delivering goods, assistingin household tasks or by providing mobility
services (Ramachandran & Raman, 2021).

It presents estimates of the number ofplatforms in the BRICs countries, thefunding or investments in these platforms
and revenue generated by them overthe past decade. The issue paper also
examines opportunities and challenges
related to platform workers and regulatory
steps initiated by the BRICS countries toprotect the platform workers.
In BRICS countries, the number ofplatforms has grown from 19 to 127 in
the past decade, and represents 16%of the platforms operating aroundthe world in 2021.

Within the BRICS countries, theconcentration of the number ofplatforms is the highest in India (49%),
followed by Brazil (20%), China (16%),
Russia (12%) and South Africa (4%).

Across sectors, the number ofplatforms in the delivery sector is thehighest (80), followed by online webbased platforms (30), taxi sector (15)and there are 2 hybrid platforms in
BRICS countries, which provide varied
types of services.



The global distribution of investments
in digital labour platforms is skewed,
with 96% of the investments
concentrated in Asia (US$57 billion),
North America (US$46 billion) andEurope (US$12 billion) compared to
4% going to Latin America, Africa andthe Arab States (Figure 2a).



In comparison, the investments to
the BRICS countries comprises about
32% of the global investments (US$39
billion), from which 73% (US$29 billion)
are concentrated in China, followed by
21% (US$8 billion) in India, while theshare in other BRICS countries is lessthan 5% .

BRICS & the Gig-Platform
EconomyIssue Paper on “Gig and Platform Workers: Role in Labour Markets” Prepared for
the BRICS Employment Working Group
under the Indian Presidency April 2021
The issue paper provides an overview ofplatform work in the BRICS countries.

12 Labour provided by ‘knowledge workers’, i.e.
employees of Business Process and Knowledge
Process Outsourcing of the early 2000s

32 | Technology Diffusion and Democratisation of Jobs

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Work

Digital technologies have also led to
new outsourcing models throughdigital labour platforms with a large
proportion of work originating fromcountries in the Global North like
Australia, Canada, Germany, New
Zealand, the United Kingdom and theUnited States is performed by workers
in developing countries, particularly
from India, which accounts for almost
20% of the total market, followed by
the Philippines and Ukraine.



The BRICS countries constituteabout 45% of the world’s workforce
and there has been a huge surge
in demand for platform activities inthese countries.



The principal advantages to working
on digital labour platforms, especiallyonline web-based platforms, arethe flexibility it provides to workers
to choose the place and time towork, which is quite beneficial for
workers with disabilities or care
responsibilities.



Platforms also have the potential
to allow women to enter maledominated sectors. For instance, inIndia, platforms such as Ola and Uberspecifically assist the on-boarding of
women as driver-partners in theirservice.
Working
conditions
on
digitalplatforms are largely regulated by theterms of service agreements. They
tend to characterise the contractual
relationship between the platform
owner and worker as other than oneof employment. As a result, platformworkers cannot access many of
the workplace protections andentitlements.

Growth of business and in labour
platforms has to be balanced withensuring workers’ well-being alongwith decent working conditions andearnings through coherent, consistentand coordinated international effort.

BRICS LABOUR AND
EMPLOYMENT MINISTERS’DECLARATION
July, 2021
New Delhi
The BRICS Labour and Employment
Ministers’ Declaration under Indian
Presidency focuses on four key pillarsof labour and employment policies:
Promoting Social Security Agreements
amongst BRICS Nations; Formalisation ofLabour Markers ; Participation of Womenin the Labour Force; and Gig and Platform
Workers: Role in the Labour Market.
In order to achieve progress in concluding
social security agreements, the declaration
takes into account the International Labour
Organization’s (ILO) labour standards
which provide guidance on decent labour
migration conditions.
“Building on previous Declarations of BRICS
Summits and Labour and Employment
Ministers’Meetings(LEMM),
theConclusions of the Recurrent Discussion on
Social Protection (Social Security) adopted
by the International Labour Conference in
2021 and with the support of ILO and ISSA,
we are committed to deepening social
security cooperation among our countries.
We resolve to carry out exchange of
information among BRICS countries on
employment and social security for crossborder labour flows and initiate social
security agreements between BRICS
nations with a reasonable timeframe.”

Technology Diffusion and Democratisation of Jobs | 33

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Work

Recommendations of the Labour &Employment Ministers Declarationin the context of Gig and Platform
Workers
Digital labour platforms are a
distinctive part of the digital
economy. These platforms havecreated unprecedented opportunities
for businesses, society and workers,
but at the same time, presented
challenges relating to working
conditions, social protection, theregularity of work and incomes.



We reaffirm our commitment
to support the development of
the digital economy, including
digital delivery of services, while
acknowledging the role of digitalplatforms in providing resilience tonational economies in the face ofcrisis such as Covid-19.



We acknowledge the positive impact
of digital platforms in facilitation of
job creation, entrepreneurship anddevelopment of micro and small
businesses, and in providing livelihood
opportunities
for
disadvantaged
groups, including women, andPersons with Disabilities (PwDs).



We will strive to leverage theopportunities and overcome thechallenges emerging from the riseof digital labour platforms, to ensuresustainable enterprise development
and decent work for all, and to work
towards achievement of the United
Nations Sustainable Development
Goals.

Ministry of Labour & Employment, Government of
India

3.4. C HALLENGES FOR
WORKERS IN THE GIG &PLATFORM SECTOR
Before large-scale evidence on the challenges
faced by workers in the gig and platform
sector in India is presented, it is important
to note the different criticisms the platform
economy is facing globally.
One issue often highlighted by studies
primarily on platformization of mobility aroundthe world is the algorithmic control of platform
labour by digital platforms. Notwithstanding
the improvements to efficiencies algorithms
engender, platform algorithms have comeunder critical review for compromising qualityof work, and dignity of labour. Platforms
are criticised for having opaque algorithms,
imposing excessive control over theirworkers 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. On
the one hand, algorithmic management
raises the larger debate on privacy, dataprotection, and cybersecurity. On the other,
the opacity of algorithms spotlights the power
asymmetry or imbalances between platforms
and platform workers. Studies have pointed to
the weakening of the platform worker agency
due to such algorithmic management andpower imbalances, giving rise to emotional
labour of platform workers and biases.
Emotional labour pertains to the worker
socialising with the customer, stemmingfrom the need to appease a customer withthe objective of securing a high rating. The
current approach by platforms is criticisedfor bringing bias in ratings, and distorting
worker rights. Platforms are also censured
for classifying or rather misclassifying workers
as independent contractors, thereby denying
them of their due access to social security
benefits or their entitlement of collective

34 | Technology Diffusion and Democratisation of Jobs

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Workbargaining. Informalisation of the economy,
and precariousness of work are growing
concerns in the world of platforms. Long
hours on the platforms, decreasing incentives
and low earnings, and the reproduction of
exploitative work practices and structuralinequities of the unorganised-informal
economy within the platform economy areother red flags raised globally (Sehrawat etal., 2021; Davidov, 2016; Slee (2016); Ahmed etal, 2016; Stefano, 2016, Fan, et al, 2020; Glöss,
McGregor & Brown, 2016; Hanrahan et al,2015; Hodges, 2020; Fairwork India, 2021; Isaac,
2014; Kasera & Bidwell, 2016; Kittur et al, 2013;
Kumar, Jafarinaimi & Morshed, 2018; Lee et al,2015; Lustig et al, 2020; Ma et al, 2018; Martin
et al, 2014; Means & ​​Seiner, 2015; Purdy, 2017;
Raval & Dourish, 2016; Rogers, 2015; Rosenblat& Stark, 2016; Shapiro, 2018; Srija & Shirke, 2014;
Wilson, 2015; Rest of World, 2021; ISST, n.d.).

3.4.1. Challenges faced by Gig &Platform Workers: India
Issues of Accessibility
Even though the gig economy, with thewide variety of employment options it offers,
is accessible to all those who are willing toengage in such employment, access tointernet services and digital technology canbe a restrictive factor. This is particularly true
for those residing in rural and remote areas.
This has made the gig economy, largely anurban phenomenon (IWWAGE 2020). This
also implies that platforms that require inperson services may be accessible more tourban men and women or to those rural men
and women who are either willing to migrateor to commute from their rural residence toa town or a city on a regular basis.

Job and Income Insecurity
As in other parts of the world, platformworkers in India are predominantly paida piece rate (i.e.per task), are typicallyclassified by the platforms as “independent
contractors,” or as “driver/delivery partners.”
As a result, workers do not benefit fromlabour regulations pertaining to wages, hours,
working conditions, and the right to collective
bargaining (Fairwork 2020). Fairwork Report
2021 points out that a prominent issue withwork on digital platforms is employment
status, as most workers are not classified as
employees with income security and social
protection. As a result of such classification,
many lack labour and income security, andwork based identity.

Occupational Safety and Health Risks
Studies have reported that workers engaged
in employment with the digital platforms,
particularly, women workers in the appbased taxi and delivery sectors, face various
occupational safety and health risks. ILO global
surveys on freelance platforms reveal thatworkers in the app-based taxi and delivery
sectors, particularly women, also face several
occupational safety and health risks. About
83 per cent of workers engaged in the appbased taxi sector and 89 per cent in the appbased delivery sector reported having safetyconcerns about their work, often relating toroad safety, theft and physical assault. In theapp-based delivery sector, a particularly highproportion of respondents from India, Mexicoand Morocco (predominantly male, as few
women are present in the sector in thesecountries) reported facing discrimination orharassment (ILO 2021).

Skills Mismatch
Varying degrees of vertical and horizontal
skills mismatch can be observed on online
web-based platforms. According to ILO
surveys, workers with higher educational
achievements are not necessarily finding
work commensurate with their skills.
Many respondents on online web-based

Technology Diffusion and Democratisation of Jobs | 35

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Workplatforms reported that they have more skills
than demanded for the tasks, with small
differences by sex. The skills mismatch is quite
pronounced for those engaged on microtask
platforms, where many (57 per cent) have auniversity degree, of whom a majority havea specialization in STEM (science, technology,
engineering and medicine), but undertake
tasks such as responding to surveys andexperiments, content access, data collection
and so on, which tend to require few orno specific skills. On freelance platforms, asizeable proportion of respondents (29 percent) reported that they had more skills
than were demanded for the task. A higher
proportion of women (68 per cent) than men(59 per cent) reported that their skills were agood match. On competitive programming
platforms, an overwhelming majority of
respondents (77 per cent) reported that
their skills were adequate for doing well on
the platform. The need for more technicaltraining was prominent among respondents
on web-based platforms in China (54 percent) and Ukraine (33 per cent). Horizontal
skills mismatch was particularly prevalent indeveloping countries (ILO 2021).
ILO surveys also found that a sizeable
proportion of workers engaged in the appbased taxi and delivery sectors have higheducational levels, including women andyoung people. Even though these sectors areoften considered to be low-skilled, 24 and 21
per cent of app-based taxi drivers and delivery
workers respectively are highly educated.
These proportions are lower in the traditional
sectors. In countries such as Chile and India, aconsiderably higher proportion of app-basedtaxi drivers and delivery workers were foundto be highly educated compared to those in
the traditional sectors. Even though fewer
women engage in the app-based taxi anddelivery sectors, a higher proportion of themwere found to be highly educated (42 and 29
per cent respectively) compared to men (24and 20 per cent respectively). Younger appbased taxi drivers and delivery workers (18– 24 years) were highly educated (24 and 17
per cent respectively) compared to workers
in the traditional sectors (12 and 4 per centrespectively). This reflects the challenges in
the context of youth employment, where
young people often find themselves engaged
in poor employment opportunities whilelooking for possibilities to earn an income(ILO WESO 2021). Skills mismatch then, also
appears to be an issue that may need to beaddressed, also from the gender perspective,in the gig and platforms sector.

Challenges faced due to Terms of Contract,
Weak Collectivization​​
Working
conditions on digital platforms arelargely regulated by the terms of service
agreements. They tend to characterize
the contractual relationship between theplatform owner and worker as other than oneof employment. Platform workers are termed
as “independent contractors”. As a result,platform workers cannot access many of
the workplace protections and entitlements(ILO 2018b).
The organisation of work through digitalplatforms where workers seldom meet or
get together makes it difficult for them toform associations for collective bargaining(De Stefano 2015, Graham & Woodcock, 2018).
Fairwork India Report notes that despite therise in gig worker collectivisation in India,
none of the platforms studied expressed awillingness to recognise a collective body ofworkers (Fairwork 2021). Weak collectivization
constrains the ability of workers to negotiatewith the platforms to settle disputes andredress grievances.
A 2021 qualitative investigation of the impactof a ride hailing platform on its drivers in India
is revealing. This study frames itself in the
Indian context, and rightfully so – noting that36 | Technology Diffusion and Democratisation of Jobs

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Work

India’s transport and infrastructural conditions
vary significantly from the global North. The
study finds that drivers from the largely
traditional taxi and informal labour sectors
have been transitioning to platform-based
driving, motivated by flexibility of labour andopportunity to augment incomes, hitherto
unavailable in their former employment(Sehrawat et al, 2021). The study also posits
that platformization ushers employment andwage stability despite the lack of employee
status (ibid). Lastly, the study – employing ahuman-computer interface (HCI) approach,finds that ride-hailing platforms can beconceptualised as shaping and being shapedby driver’s agency in their everyday work (ibid).

3.5. E XPANDING PLATFORM
EFFICIENCY ACROSS THE
ECONOMYThe platform economy has tremendous
potential to unlock jobs in the millions whileleveraging technology and innovation to drivesocial and financial inclusion.
This is true around the world. In the US
for instance, the gig economy is found toserve as an income supplement and as
insurance against entrepreneurial-related
income volatility (Barrios, Hochberg & Yi,2020). The introduction of gig opportunities is
associated with an approximate 5% increasein the number of new business registrationsin the local area, and a correspondinglysized increase in small business lending to
newly registered businesses (ibid). Studies
have further found that the increase inentrepreneurial entry is larger in regionswith lower average income and higher credit
constraints, as well as in locations with higher
ex ante economic uncertainty regarding
future wage levels and wage growth (ibid).
Undoubtedly, there is a crucial need toacknowledge the need for and platforms’ rolein promoting creative micro entrepreneurship:asset ownership and financialisation are two
key components of this shift (Ramachandran,Singh & Narain, 2021). Micro entrepreneurshiphas long been the cornerstone of the Indian
economy, but productivity in this form ofwork has often been the subject of muchdebate and scrutiny, mainly because of
the fact that formal financial institutions
and systems of accounting have not madetheir way to these small scale enterprises.
Through the platform economy, formal
credit can be accessed through a variety ofmeans including small ticket non-banking
lenders, as well as raising asset ownership(such as a vehicle or real estate) for operation
through the platform (through a ride hailingor renting service). This has the potential fortransforming the asset monetisation scopeof Indian households which remains highly
illiquid and pitifully inadequate to meet theneeds of a burgeoning youth population (RBI,
2017).
Thus, closer home in India, digitalisation ofwork is also a moment of “formalisation” in thelargely informal Indian economy. Formalisingrefers to (a) financial aspect of a businesssuch as paying tax or filing paperwork withregularity, or (b) conditions of work and thestatus of workers affiliated with said type ofbusiness (Sehrawat et al, 2021). Using theapproach of measuring the proportion ofbusinesses of all sizes paying taxes and filing
returns, the October economic outlook fromthe State Bank of India (2021) draws a directline between digitalisation and “formalisation”
through the emergence of the platform
economy and specifically, with the prevalenceof gig jobs. The estimate goes on to state thatthe informal economy is possibly at 15-20% offormal GDP, down from 52% in FY2018 (ibid).
While the connection between formalisationand digitalisation is palpable, the line may not
be straight between formalisation and gig
work. Formalisation of jobs (not the economy)

Technology Diffusion and Democratisation of Jobs | 37

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Workentails the expansion of social security coverfor jobs, hence requiring a greater effort ataddressing the needs of workers at the levelof job security and work rewards.
The e-SHRAM portal set up to enumerate
workers of the unorganised sector, withspecific reference to the needs of the migrant
workers in sectors like construction and otherurban sectors, is a landmark effort. This will be
the largest such undertaking in the history ofIndia and has the potential to render a strong
data backend as the process is digitisedfrom the first step, relying on a network ofCommon Service Centres (CSC) to assist
those workers that are not digitally adept toenroll themselves. Regardless, this portal canserve as the gateway to a number of targetedinterventions to deliver social security to themasses. This, along with the developments
under the Code on Social Security (CoSS),
whereby different forms of work have beenrecognised outside the traditional employeremployee relationship (viz. gig work andits sub-type, platform work), makes for thecomprehensive reform desired in this spacefor many years now. See Chapters 6 and 7
for a deeper understanding of labour welfare
and governance in the 21st century.
Some of the practices in the platform
economy that can be emulated elsewhere forthe benefit of the wider economy cut acrossthemes of work access, payment transparency
and ease, as well as tech reliability in fulfillingthe services end to end. These are all pointersthat can be adapted as a playbook of sorts to
induce platform efficiency in operations andjobs across the economy, and therefore meritsome detailed analysis, as given below.

3.5.1. D elineation of Job Role andProfessionalisation of Bluecollar Work
The huge difference between platformmediated jobs and those in the wider

unorganised economy entails the definitionof the job itself; the driver-partner of a ridehailing service is strictly expected to run
a business of providing rides and is notexpected to perform any other allied services
like running errands on behalf of the client.
Similarly, an aesthetician providing services athome has a pre-agreed list of jobs for which
she is prepared and her time is budgeted;anything extra is reportable and payable as
extra work. This is a marked departure frompractices in the prevailing non-digitalised
economy (Sehrawat et al, 2021). The payment
shown upfront to the client is conditional on
the delivery of the requested services, andservice quality is hence standardised andassured. To the worker, the payment is assured
and commensurate with the expected time
inputted, thereby increasing the efficiencyof time utilisation vis-à-vis the conventional
economy. This is a huge shift in work practices
and helps the wider professionalisation ofmany roles in the services economy. Given
the ballooning of India’s services sector acrossthe skill spectrum, this is a desirable trend.

3.5.2. Low Entry Barriers, Non-discrimination, and Democratisation of Jobs
Social factors of caste, religion and gender
may have implications for workers’ access toemployment opportunities, particularly in theunorganised sector in India. Social networks
play an important role in finding jobs, making
up the social capital that workers from rural
areas can leverage upon their migration tocities. These networks help in settling into a
new place, assist in finding work, and evenpropel one’s advancement in the city; Tarini
Bedi (2016) explores the relationship between
community, livelihoods and identity in moredetail, and establishes the inextricable link
between the migrant and the rural roots,jobs and socio-economic groups and how

38 | Technology Diffusion and Democratisation of Jobs

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Workthese livelihoods and incomes are often at
odds with the project of modernising Indian
cities. However, the experienced of jobs not
only makes jobs more accessible, it also helps
break the cyclical nexus of poor earnings
forcing more members of the same family(and the same community/ regional origin)taking up the same line of work to find somesource of income.
Due to their low-entry barriers and flexibility
and choice of labour, platforms catalyse
the heightened participation of womenand Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) in theeconomy, as can be seen from evidence
presented in Chapter 5. Platform companies
have in place efficient mechanisms for skill
matching. To this end, platform companies
have also undertaken many skilling initiatives
in partnership with governments andotherwise, contributing to democratisationof jobs and increasing business opportunities
by using digital outreach modes (Pant, n.d.
& Mathur, 2019). The Code on Social Security
2020 has recognised this important shift
in the changing nature of work throughplatformization.

3.5.3. Platform
Services,
Geographical Availability, andHinterlands Rejuvenation
Some 300 cities of varying sizes in India areserviced by various platforms operating acrosssectors like ride-hailing, home-based services,
food/ grocery/ medicine delivery, logistics
fulfilment and e-commerce, covering thebroad ambit of urban services, and making
mobility of workers and clients across markets
hassle-free. A plumber finding work in
Mumbai and Jaipur with the same ease is no
simple feat and is a different experience frombefore the platforms took over such services;similarly the same mobile app providing a

medicine delivery service across different
cities is a convenience that customers could
not have experienced in the past, which
would have required prior knowledge of thecities and local connections that would pointin the right direction for their needs. This
discoverability of services, and hence work, is aunique contribution of the platform economy
to the hinterlands rejuvenation project, as
it created livelihoods and better customer
experiences, regardless of city sizes, thereby
fulfilling broader development goals.

3.5.4. T echnological Diffusion, Reliability and Network Effectof Services
While urban services have always been in
demand, the unreliability and unassured
quality of services has always been a stickler
point for this sector. The technologicalintervention in this space has contributed
to the uptick in demand, and hence theearnings opportunities associated with it; thisis predicated on the unprecedented level ofskill matching and tech-based job allocation
fulfilled in real time by platforms, thereby
eliminating the inefficiencies in these sectors.
The sharp uptick in smartphone usage andwidespread availability of mobile internet
have certainly pushed the uptake of these
services. Therefore through a combinationof tech diffusion and ability to scale, these
services have also improved over time as thealgorithms get better at geographical, skill
and preferences matching. This has renderedfavourable outcomes for all. This network
effect, unlike the traditional nexus networks,
can expedite the growth of the urban services
sector and expand their scope. This translates
to higher earnings and income opportunities,
and better consumption indices at themacroeconomic level.

Technology Diffusion and Democratisation of Jobs | 39

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Work

3.6. P OLICYRECOMMENDATIONS
The platform economy has changed thenature of jobs, has disrupted traditional
notions of “employer” and “employee”, andhas introduced innovative, scalable ways toachieve social and financial inclusion while
creating meaningful jobs that pay. Platformwork incorporates the regularity of formal
work, while assuring the flexibility of hours
and the certainty of good income to millions
of working families in India, thus meriting acategory of its own, and which has been duly
fulfilled by The Code on Social Security, 2020.
The fact that platform work in its current
format already offers the lowest entry barriers
and the highest hourly earning potential
compared to alternatives present in theprivate sector – both formal and informal – isnoteworthy here.
Platform work has proven to be indispensable
to the functioning of cities, especially evident
during the lockdowns undertaken to fightthe transmission of Covid-19 (Raman &Ramachandran, 2020b). The unique aspect
about online platforms is that they are assetlight and operate off the dividends of a network
effect, implying that the services get betterwith an increasing number of people signingup to provide and receive them. This meansthat there is ample room for workers to joinin the network, making platforms an engine
of job creation in the wider economy. Policy
should therefore encourage labour market
arrangements that facilitate innovation andprovide protection for workers, are efficient,and promote sustainable, decent lives for
citizens. To this end, there are measures thatcan be taken by the government.

A Platform India initiative built on thepillars of Accelerating Platformization
by Simplification and Handholding,Funding Support and Incentives, Skill
Development, and Social Financial
Inclusion may be started, like theimmensely successful Startup India
initiative.

3.6.1. C atalyse Platformization in
India
a.

Platformization of all occupations andindustries must be catalysed.
i.

As seen in Chapter 2, gig andplatform work is concentrated in as
many as 21 occupations13 as listed
in the National Occupation for2004 – ranging from professionals
incomputers,architecture,accounts and finance, etc. to motor
vehicle drivers14, travel attendants,
housekeeping workers, domestic
and related helpers, personal care
workers, street vendors, launderes,cleaners, etc.

ii.

Likewise, 15 industries – as enumer­
ated in the National Industrial
Classification – have the largest
concentration of platform workor have the potential unlock
growth in gig and platform work.

13 See section 2.2.2
14 Today, any individual with access to a two-wheeler,with or without a commercial permit, can deliver
packages, food, groceries, medicines etc., in the digital
hyperlocal economy. Such individuals are different
from the traditional motor vehicle drivers who drive
vehicles with commercial permits alone. Thus, manyof these traditional occupational categories need to
be expanded and/ or redefined.

40 | Technology Diffusion and Democratisation of Jobs

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Work

These
industries
range
from
manufacturing, electricity, watersupply, construction, and retailtrade to transport and storage,accommodation and food services,
information and communication,
financial and insurance services,
real estate, administration, othereducation, educational support,
residential care, and repair ofcomputers and personal andhousehold goods.
iii.

In the aforementioned occupations
and industries, it must be easy forboth business owners and individual
workers to enter the platform
economy, and grow and thrive in it.
1.

b.

For instance, the Prime Minister
Street Vendor AtmaNirbhar
Nidhi Yojana (PM SVANidhi
Scheme)providescreditsupport and business revamp
for street vendors and small
food salespeople. Street vendors
are also being digitally upskilled
and onboarded to platforms15.
On the lines of this initiative, selfemployed individuals engaged
in the business of selling regionaland rural cuisine, street food etc.
may be linked to platforms sothat they can sell their produce
to wider markets in towns andcities.

Promote entrepreneurship, and ensureease of starting and doing business inthe platform economy.
i.

There is an urgent need to take alight-touch regulatory approach to
governing and promoting platformbusinesses in India. The multiplicity
of policies and rules and regulations

as seen today not only needs tobe simplified and streamlined,
but any licensing requirements
for aggregators too should bereconsidered.

Regulatory Framework for
Platforms
Currently, e-commerce platforms andonline aggregators of goods and services
are registered first under the Companies
Act, 2013, and are regulated as technology
companies
under
the
Information
Technology Act, 2000, under the Ministryof Electronics and Information Technology.
Empowered by the Consumer Protection
Act, 2019, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs,
Food and Public Distribution notified theConsumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rulesin 2020, thereby making online retailers
more accountable and their businesses
more transparent. The 2020 Rules wereamended in 2021. It is further expectedthat the Department for Promotion ofIndustry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) under
the Ministry of Commerce will release acomprehensive draft e-commerce policy
in 2022, with the Ministry of Consumer
Affairs, Food and Public Distribution
simultaneously releasing its revised
e-commerce rules to protect consumer
interest. These revised versions of the
e-commerce policy and rules are expectedto spell out comprehensive guidelines forall online transactions, covering all digitalcommerce and service providers, including
marketplaces, ride-hailing companies,
ticketing and payment companies, etc.
Due to the cross-cutting nature of digitalbusinesses, e-commerce platforms andonline aggregators have to register undera slew of laws in India. These range fromthe ones listed above as well as the Income
Tax Act, 1961, Central and State Goods and

15 See more in Section 4.3.1. In Chapter 4

Technology Diffusion and Democratisation of Jobs | 41

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Work

Services Tax (GST) Acts, and policies andrules governing industries like hotel andhomestay, road transport – passenger andgoods transport, food, pharmaceuticaletc. The latter include the Motor Vehicles
Act and Rules issued by the Ministry ofRoad Transport and Highways as well as
Aggregator policies and rules by each of
the State and UT governments, Digital
Information Security in Healthcare Act,2018 (the DISHA Bill), etc., among others.
These policies and rules therefore regulate
not just the underlying businesses likehomestay and hotels, passenger mobility,
food delivery, etc. but also the platformbusinesses that are aggregating them.
Thus, online aggregators of goods andservices are required to get suitable licencesin their respective industries. More often
than not, the licence fee is determinedby the size of the platform, and this is aproblem. Since, platform workers havea transient identity switching from one
platform to another and moving in andout of the platform economy to pursue
agriculture, education or employment
elsewhere. The licence also comes witha validity of a mere one year. The current
policies and rules also regulate thenature of engagement among platforms,
workers, and customers by determining
pricing of goods and services for instance,
applicability of dynamic pricing as well as
discounts and incentives, service charge tobe levied on every transaction, number ofhours a worker puts into the platform etc.

and accordingly limit the business or
remunerative opportunities provided tothem. Safety and health of the worker,
therefore, needs to be governed differently.
Likewise, platform workers own their own
assets from smartphones to vehicles andin some cases, equipment. Expecting
these to be energy efficient or zeroemission etc. can only be encouraged by
the platforms. Platforms cannot directly
comply with such rules because they do
not own the assets (goods or services)
they aggregate. This raises the larger
question around what the aggregator isactually liable for, and how the law of theland perceives aggregator liability. Noncompliance usually results in the licenceof the platform business getting revoked.
This leads to direct loss of livelihood ofaffiliated workers.

Many of these reduce the competitivenessof said industries, with sub-par services
getting offered to consumers ultimately.
Some of these regulations are also hard tocomply with. For instance, platform workers
work simultaneously and sequentially on
multiple platforms, rendering it impossible
for platform businesses to track the total
hours of work put in by the worker,

42 | Technology Diffusion and Democratisation of Jobs

ii.

All these well-intentioned regula­tions to protect the interests ofconsumers, workers, and businesses,
adversely affect the (digital) sharing
economy in India promoted byonline aggregators. Such imposed
regulatory costs drive up the costof goods and services, and not toforget the cost of job creation. It also
renders the business of aggregating
expensive, thereby preventing many
micro, small, and medium enterprises
from starting up or continuing theirplatform business.

iii.

It is essential to promote microentrepreneurial opportunities as
well, in line with India’s vision
for an Atmanirbhar Bharat. All
stakeholders from central and state
governments, to urban local bodies,and financiers, etc. should leverage
digital platforms to promote microentrepreneurship and lay the roadto inclusive economic growth.

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Work

iv.

c.

The core advantage of the platform
economy is that platform businesses
are asset-light, and thus, platformsof all sizes and shapes emerge. As
a result, India already witnesses thebooming of platform businesses
not just in the cities but in thehinterlands as well. Minimum
compliance with maximum accessto finance, technology, know-how,
etc. would help create hundreds ofthousands of platform businesses all
across India.

Accelerate the platformization of themobility economy.
i.

In the specific case of mobility
platforms, the government may
remove entry barriers and create alevel-playing field for all. Retain what
is core to the increasing popularityof mobility platforms – the abilityof drivers to have flexible working
conditions and be an entrepreneurin their own right.

ii.

The central government (Ministryof Road Transport and Highways– MoRTH) has done away with therequirement of commercial licences
to drive commercial vehicles (The
Hindu, 2018). In so doing, thegovernment effectively removed
the arbitrary one-year waiting period
in getting a commercial driving
licence, recognising that the waiting
period served little of the intended
purpose. Doing away with the needfor commercial licence would hugely
contribute to the initiation of womenand Persons with Disabilities (PwDs)
as drivers in the platform economy;
Women and PwDs can minimise
the waiting time between learningand earning. The state governments
should, therefore, implement the no-commercial licence rule uniformly
across the country.
iii.

Ferrying of passengers for hire
may be permitted in all categories
ranging from two-wheelers (in theform of bike taxis or bike-pool) andthree-wheelers (rickshaws, autorickshaws), to four-wheelers (taxicabs and carpool), and 10-12-seater
vehicles (mini-buses). While MoRTH
should issue guidelines on promoting
shared mobility, state governments
should notify the necessary rules
and regulations to legalise andoperationalise shared mobility, withminimal barriers. The regulations
should focus on achieving the desired
and much-needed outcomes such as(a) decongesting cities, (b) increasing
the usage of public transport byusing new-age shared mobility forfirst- and last-mile connectivity, (c)moving people away from private
vehicle ownership and usage, (d)reducing pollution, and (e) improving
safety, accessibility, reliability andaffordability, all the while unlocking
millions of jobs for the masses.

Consider the case of bike taxis in India. Biketaxis have the potential to become a highly
popular mode of commute and livelihood
choice, given how India is quintessentiallya two-wheeler country having 128 twowheelers per 1000 population, one in
two households owning a two-wheeler,and over 80% of the automobiles soldand 70% of the automobile registeredin India being two-wheelers (Raman,
2020; Ministry of Road Transport and
Highways, 2019). Bike taxis disincentivise
ownership and usage of private vehicles,
and incentivise the usage of public transit
by offering first and last-mile connectivity.

Technology Diffusion and Democratisation of Jobs | 43

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Workvi.

Accordingly, the Central Motor Vehicles
Act legalised bike taxis in 2004. The Motor
Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019 allows forthe aggregation of all vehicles including
bikes. In this backdrop, even though over
15 States16 and Union Territories such as
Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab, West Bengal,
Mizoram, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh
etc. have allowed operation of bike taxis,
several key states including Maharashtra,
Delhi, Tamil Nadu, etc. are yet to notify
rules on this front (Raman, 2020). Since
2021, Karnataka, on its part, is permitting
the operation of electric bike taxis, but issilent on conventional bike taxi operations.
iv.

v.

vii. The government(s) may also create
supportive tax mechanisms to allow
platform drivers to report earnings
and be taxed fairly.

Removing operational restrictions
such as high permit fee, pastexperience, requirement of CCTVs
in vehicles, conservative floor on theage of the vehicle, etc. might help
in ensuring that the mobility-based
livelihoods are not prohibitively
expensive for India’s youth to access.
Encourage the widespread adoptionofhyperlocal
deliveries
using
two-wheelers. Central and state
governments should issue necessary
guidelines for the same while also
promoting both passenger mobility
and hyperlocal deliveries using
the same vehicle, in an integrated
fashion. Referred to as Mobility-asa-Service, integrated mobility of thiskind is gaining momentum the world
over, and is a sustainable avenue forplatform workers to augment theirearnings.

Despite the All India Institute ofMedical Sciences certifying that
there
existslittlerelationshipbetween hearing abilities anddriving a vehicle, the issuance of
licences to those hard of hearing
remains minimal (Ministry of Road
Transport and Highways, 2016).
Awareness creation and expansion oflicensing for Persons with Disabilities(PwDs) is needed to increase theiremployability.

At present platform drivers have only
limited options to file Income Tax Returns(ITR). For instance, under Section 44AD
presumptive income option (India.com
Business Desk, 2018), meant for thoserunning their own business. Recognising
platform workers as a separate worker
classification would thereby necessitate
their recognition under various ITR forms.
This would streamline the process of filingtaxes. Moreover, the central government
has recently revoked GST exemption on
app-based auto rides (TNIE, 2021). Thistax will lead to a rise in platform fares
and a corresponding drop in demand,
directly affecting the income of drivers.
Therefore, there is a need for supportive
tax mechanisms, designed to help theplatform economy grow.
d.

16 States and Union Territories that have legalised biketaxis (in alphabetical order): Andhra Pradesh, Bihar,
Chandigarh, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand,
Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Punjab,
Rajasthan, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, and West
Bengal.

44 | Technology Diffusion and Democratisation of Jobs

Skilling, upskilling, and reskilling
programmes must all be aligned tojobs of the 21st century, i.e. platform
jobs of today and tomorrow. See
detailed recommendations on Skillingin Chapter 4.

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Work

3.6.2. U nlock Financial Support for
Platform Businessesa.

Venture capital funding, grants andloans from banks and other funding
agencies should be provided to platformbusinesses of all sizes at the pre-revenue
and early-revenue stages. The central
and state governments along with the
Small Industries Development Bank ofIndia (SIDBI) as well as other banks inthe country should play an active role.
The existing and upcoming networkof State and Central government-run
Entrepreneurship Development Cells,
Entrepreneur­
ship Development Cells
in academic institutions, etc. should
all actively provide financial support toplatform businesses. Emphasis must
be placed on providing collateral-freeworking capital funding, grants, andloans to entrepreneurs starting platformbusinesses. The financial support offeredby such institutions would allow earlystage platforms to prove their businessmodel, gradually become sustainable,
and also attract private investments.
i.

b.

Today, the Prime Minister Street Vendor AtmaNirbhar Nidhi Yojana (PMSVANidhi Scheme) provides credit
support and business revamp forstreet vendors and small food salespeople. Under the scheme, street
vendors are being digitally upskilled
and onboarded to platform businesses17. Such programmes should
be designed for all occupations thathave and are expected to have highconcentration of platform businesses and workforce.

Special impetus should be offered toplatforms managed by women and
Persons with Disabilities (PwDs).

17 See Section 4.3.1 in Chapter 4.

c.

Likewise, special emphasis should beoffered to platform businesses started insmall cities, towns, and villages in India.

3.6.3. A ccelerate Financial Inclusion of Platform Workers
Steps should be taken to enhance platformworkers’ access to institutional credit.
a.

For India to be able to fully benefit fromthe shifting paradigms of mobility andthe resulting mobility economy, it musteliminate cost barriers to the means of
livelihood. A major need in this regard is
to expand access to credit and achievefinancial inclusion, by having formal
lenders, i.e. banks, transition from assetbased lending to cash flow-based lending.
Thus, unsecured loans to first-timeborrowers participating in the platform
economy may be classified as Priority
Sector Lending (PSL). Such a measure
would strengthen India’s complementaryfinancial inclusion programmes such as
MUDRA, and mainstream formal lending
to individuals leveraging platforms toearn a living.

b.

Today, lenders may utilise data available
with platforms to profile workers andestimate their creditworthiness. New-age
companies, banks and micro-financeinstitutions (MFIs) may, thus, develop
innovative products including loans
for individuals with intermittent but
predictable income, or tools for runningfreelancer businesses.
i.

The government and platforms canleverage FinTech and InsurTechbusinesses to provide benefits
tailored to platform workers andimprove financial inclusion. A hostof such businesses have sprung up
in the last five years in India with themandate of financial inclusion by

Technology Diffusion and Democratisation of Jobs | 45

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Workproviding micro-credit and microinsurance, such as Avail Finance,
Kosh or PerkFinance which operate
for the blue-collar market especially(Singh, 2020a; Soni, 2019a). Such newage financial organisations enable
cash flow-based lending as against
asset-based lending to platformworkers. This new class of start-ups
has a market opportunity because
the existing traditional benefits
infrastructure is not currently set
up to meet the needs of individual
platform workers (Cannon, 2019).
As seen with businesses like Avail
Finance, such startups wouldfind it attractive to offer on an
aggregate basis, lower cost options
for healthcare, institutional credit,
insurance, and retirement savings
that individual platform workers
would not be able to accessthemselves. Many platforms havepartnered with such players in orderto fulfill their workers’ credit needs.
The strategic partnership forged
between Ola and Avail Financeis one such instance. Overall,businesses that have optimised value
distribution in favour of marginalised
or underrepresented communities
may be further developed and scaled
through effective strategies. The
government can ease regulations
allowing the accelerated growth ofsuch financial businesses in India.
ii.

c.

of everything. Formal credit access may
be provided to access a vehicular asset,
smartphone, and/ or to run the businessin the platform economy through designof targeted programmes.
d.

Additionally, a special emphasis must
be placed on access to formal credit for
women and Persons with Disabilities(PwDs). Their access to microfinance has
increased over the years with initiatives
such as Micro Units Development &Refinance Agency Limited (MUDRA).
Existing schemes like National Backward
Classes
Finance&
Development
Corporation’s Mahila Samriddhi Yojana
specifically target women. However,these schemes are not enough. Civil
Society organisations, state, districtauthorities, gram panchayats and local
financing institutions must work together
to mobilise and support women and
PwDs to gain access to credit, build theirown assets, which can subsequently bemonetised for livelihood creation throughplatform work.

e.

Therefore, in order to let the platform
economy – i.e. the economy of jobs
– really flourish, it is essential to also
enact policy reforms on the monetaryand fiscal fronts, such as access tocredit and finance for those associatedwith platforms. This significant entry
barrier could be lifted once the norms
for lending are tweaked to fit microentrepreneurs’ needs, as mentioned in
the latest stimulus package announced
by the Finance Minister, Government ofIndia (Government of India, 2020). The
state of Gujarat has already taken this astep further and announced Atmanirbhar
Gujarat Sahay Yojna, through which loans
will be made available at 2% interest
rate to skilled workers and those fallingunder the lower middle income category

NSDC
can
also
facilitate
entrepreneurial loans to gig andplatform workers registered on the
Skill India Portal.18

The platformization of everyday must go
hand-in-hand with the financialization

18 Inputs shared with NITI Aayog by MSDE (O.M. no.
MCRN-11/3/2022-O/0 JD (SNP) dated 26th May 2022

46 | Technology Diffusion and Democratisation of Jobs

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Work

(Financial Express, 2020). Industryspecific needs for each platform in termsof market unlocks would also go a longway in ensuring more work and better
services mediated through the platform.

Technology Diffusion and Democratisation of Jobs | 47

4

Creating a FutureReady Labour
Force

India is the youngest country in the world,with an average age of 29 years, and home
to a fifth of the world’s youth population(Financial Express 2017, MEA 2021). Youth,
typically characterised as those between
ages of 15 and 24 years, make up a third of
our population (MoSPI, 2017) and therefore
have a strong role to play in the rebuildingof the Indian economy. India has entered a 37
year-long demographic dividend, signallingthat its working age population has peaked(Thakur, 2019). This bulge will last till 2055
and is an indicator of how there are far fewer
dependents than providers in the population.
This dividend, or the growth potential that48 | Creating a Future-Ready Labour Force

results from shifts in the nation’s age structure,
was the plank on which the Asian economies
and China based their phenomenal growth.
India’s digital future holds the promise toleapfrog its economy to a 10 trillion dollar
one by 2030 (Bloomberg, 2019). The analyst
group Morgan Stanley predicted in their 2017
research that demographics, reforms andglobalisation contributed to the first phase of
growth, but digitalisation of financial services
and comprehensive fiscal and monetaryreforms can together propel this position(Morgan Stanley, 2017). Combined with thepromise of the digital and the force of a young
population, India stands to gain much in thedevelopmental path of the next decade.

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Work4.1. THE PRESENT TRAININGECOSYSTEM AND RECENTPOLICY INITIATIVES
India has made significant strides in secondary
education outcomes and more Indians areattending college at unprecedented levels.
The Indian Higher Education system is thethird largest in the world next only to the US
and China19. The sector has seen phenomenal
growth. In the last decade alone, the overall
Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) increased from
15% in 2009-10 to 26.3% in 2018-19. The numberof students enrolled has increased from 20
million to 37 million (an increase of 85%) in
the same period. The number of universities
and colleges has increased by 127% and 54%
respectively to 993 Universities and 39,931
colleges in the last decade (AISHE 2019).
In order to productively employ the large
proportion of youth, skill training initiatives
have also been a priority for the Government.
The first National Policy on Skill Development
was notified in 2009. The shifts in the skilling
ecosystem and the experience gained
through implementation of various skill
development programmes in the country,
led to an imminent need to revisit the 2009
policy (PIB 2020). The new National Policy on
Skill Development and Entrepreneurship was,thus, notified on July 15, 2015 to replace the2009 policy. While addressing the numerous
shifts in the ecosystem, the 2015 policy madea pertinent observation on the poor regard forskilling in India back in 2015 among various
quarters and how that needed to be urgently
overhauled.
“One of the major challenges in the country
today is public perception on skilling, which
is viewed as the last option meant for those
who have not been able to progress/opted outof the formal academic system. A number offactors are responsible for this state of affairs:
19 India’s Country Summary of Higher Education, WorldBankSocial and traditional view that sees
status as being inversely proportional
to the degree to which one works
with one’s hands. This can also be
attributed to primeval and archaic
ethos which compartmentalized
the skilling landscape for several
hundred years. This unfortunate
legacy has no moral, ethical andconstitutional sanction in free India.
Nonetheless, this gets at times
manifested in norms, attitudes andsocietal behavior.



The proclivity of large sections ofindustry especially in the micro,
small and medium sectors to treat
skilled and unskilled persons at par,thereby depriving skilling of any
meaningful economic incentive.



Most of the vocational training
programmes are not aligned to
the requirements of the industry.
As a result of the above, apiquant situation exists in the
country wherein unemployment
continues to coexist with lack ofrequisite number of skilled people
at functional level to build roads
and bridges, lay pipelines, work infactories, engage in offshore drilling,build ships etc.” (Ministry of Skill
Development and Entrepreneurship,
2015)

The National Policy on Skill Development
and Entrepreneurship 2015, therefore, aims toprovide an umbrella framework for all skilling
activities being carried out within the country,
to align them to common standards and linkskilling with demand centres. A key objectiveof this policy is to address the challenge ofskilling at scale with speed, standard (quality)
and sustainability. The policy also seeks tocoordinate and strengthen factors essential
for growth of entrepreneurship across thecountry (ibid).

Creating a Future-Ready Labour Force| 49

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Work

In order to provide a strong institutionalframework to implement and scale skill
development efforts across the country,
the Ministry of Skill Development &Entrepreneurship (MSDE) was formed in 2014
and the National Skill Development Mission(NSDM) – also referred to as the Skill India
Mission – was launched on July 15, 2015.
Under the Skill India Mission, about 20
Central Ministries and Departments including
the Ministry of Skill Development andEntrepreneurship (MSDE) are involved in theimplementation of more than 40 schemesfor various skill development programmes
for youth across the country. Long-term skill
training is provided through the Industrial
Training Institutes that number around
15,000 (Government & Private ITIs). Flagshipskill training programmes of the Governmentof India, Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana(PMKVY), and Deen Dayal Upadhyay Gramin
Kaushalya Yojana provide short-term training
to youth in various trades and job-roles.
As a part of the “Transformation of Aspirational
Districts” programme, spearheaded by NITI
Aayog and launched in 2018, there has beena special focus on skill training of youth in
112 Aspirational Districts, including thosefrom vulnerable and marginalised sectionsof society, with various stakeholders andagencies coming forward to empower youth
in aspirational districts.

4.2. THE NEED AND
OPPORTUNITY FOR SKILLDEVELOPMENT IN THE
PLATFORM ECONOMYIn India, the gap in skilling initiatives
is emblematic of a soon-to-be-missed
opportunity (Shukla, Shree & Rani, 2017). Thismeans that the youth in the country need to
be trained in some skill or the other today, so
as to remain productive. In this direction, the50 | Creating a Future-Ready Labour Forcegovernment’s efforts in skilling and enabling
entrepreneurialism is of immense importance(Sharma, 2019).
It is crucial to acknowledge here the fact thata third of India’s workforce is composed of themillennials, who are aged 25-40 years now(Bijapurkar, 2019). Millennials are also the first
generation who encountered the digitalised
reality and the potential of a workplace
mediated online, given the slew of changes
that took place around their entry to theworkforce. Therefore, skilling efforts have to be
designed with the dual needs of millennials
and the post-millennials in mind, catering to
the latter’s needs urgently.
Importantly, both of these groups are alsosimilarly adept at navigating technology inan unprecedented way, and overwhelmingly
access the internet through their mobile
devices (Mitter, 2020). Tech-driven disruption
has occurred in almost every sector of theworld economy, primarily through a supplyaggregation model; nested under thelarger ambit of the “sharing economy”, andsupported by emergent technologies likeblockchain or Internet of Things (IoT). Thismeans that the younger workforce at large
requires advanced knowledge and skills fora digital age, which includes proficiency inleveraging online means (Osborn, 2020).
Given the quick diffusion of technology inplatform-work, especially in the mobility
economy, this should be turned into an
opportunity and suitable avenues of skillingneed to be identified. This is an industryagnostic concern and any initiatives in thisdirection must recognise the importance of
impacting the entire value chain of a businessmodel.
Most new technologies, especially the digitalkind, require the acquisition of specialised
skills, while platform technologies, on theother hand, tap into skill sets developed for
performing simple smartphone-based tasks.

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Work

This has opened up the platform economy
to over 44.7% of the workforce, who haveacquired smartphone skills in recent years(MoSPI, 2017). This presents an unprecedented
opportunity, especially for the younger sectionof the workforce.

4.3. P LATFORM-LED SKILLINGAS A GROWTH MODELIn many instances, the platform companies
which provide earning opportunities for those
associated with them take considerable steps
in skilling these workers as well. This is toassure uniform standards in quality of service
and to gain repeat business through theapp itself, while also achieving upskilling ofworkers in an otherwise highly unorganised
labour economy.
Some of the initiatives in this direction arehelmed by platform companies that havetied up with the National Skill Development
Corporation (NSDC) to upskill blue-collar
workers at scale. This is crucial given thesmart city aspirations of many urban centres
in India, and such Recognition of Prior
Learning (RPL) and certification of upskilling
signals the potential for workers to build thesmart cities of tomorrow (Osborn, 2020). This
tie-up is set to benefit various sectors such as
beauty & wellness, plumbing, carpentry andother home improvement works, as well as
servicing and repair, by creating a technology
and skill mediated career progression.
Strategic partnerships between ride-hailing
platform companies and NSDC are aimed
to achieve upskilling in the mobility industry
by creating good quality self-employment(Chopra, 2016). The constellation of partners
assembled here encompasses all the actors in
the mobility ecosystem, including financiers,
car manufacturers and insurers. Added tothe in-house technology capabilities, thiswholesome ecosystem also facilitates theformalisation of an unstructured market andaffords many opportunities to upskill workers.
This is especially important when it comesto addressing the skills mismatch that isprevalent in the Indian economy.
Pursuing employer-led models of job creation
have gathered attention from industry
associations and have proven to be successful(FICCI, 2017). By creating jobs for people alongwith avenues for skilling, these strategies allow
for output generation even while the workers
are being trained. Additionally, due to thetechnology interface, it is possible to skill realtime and do it iteratively. Most importantly,
this platform-led model also mainstreams
revenue generation and fills a data lacuna in
our understanding of value addition in these
economic activities undertaken by microentrepreneurs.
Lastly, India’s huge informal labour market
also stands to benefit from a restructuring
due to the platformization of skilling and jobs.
Several initiatives by e-commerce and platform
companies aim at gender, disability and othermarginalisation- inclusivity of such a diverse
workforce while simultaneously bringing
more informal workers under the fold of an
economy of jobs which offers better incomesand experience of work. By combining income
generation, gainful self-employment andnew forms of social protection, technology
platforms have the potential to create a betterworking environment for all.

4.3.1. C ase Study: Partnerships
between Street Vendors& Platforms through PM
SVANidhi
In June 2020, the Government of India
initiated the scheme, “PM Street Vendor
AtmaNirbhar Nidhi Yojana” (PM SVANidhi
Scheme) by which street vendors and small
food salespeople would be recognisedfor credit support and business revamp,

Creating a Future-Ready Labour Force| 51

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Work

given the effect of the pandemic onpeople’s eating out and hygiene habits.
Through this scheme, street vendors
could also partner with digital platforms
to facilitate delivery of their food wares.
Under this, platforms like Zomato andSwiggy have signed an MoU (PIB, 2021a)
with the Ministry of Housing and Urban
Affairs (MoHUA) to facilitate the upskillingand platform-onboarding of street foodvendors on their food-tech platforms.
This move was intended as a boost to
the traditional street food vending sector
which had been affected due to the
lockdowns announced to combat the
spread of Covid-19. Such contact-intensive
jobs, performed usually by marginalised
groups, need an urgent revival and theplatform economy is able to fill the gap
without disrupting traditional skill markets.
This is a necessary match; most newtechnologies, especially the digital kind,require the acquisition of specialised
skills, while platform technologies, on theother hand, tap into skill sets developed
for performing simple smartphone-basedtasks. This presents an unprecedented
opportunity, especially for the younger
section of the workforce, even as wetranslate extant skills such as food vending
into the digital realm.

4.4. P OLICYRECOMMENDATIONS
Since 2015, with the launch of the Skill India
campaign (or National Skills Development
Mission of India), there is an increasingemphasis on training the labour force in futureready and industry-ready skills while factoringin the needs and aspirations of India’s youth,

52 | Creating a Future-Ready Labour Forceand challenges and opportunities existing in
the ecosystem.

4.4.1. C atalyse Platform-led Transformational Skilling Leading
to Horizontal and Vertical
Mobility
Platforms can play an important role in not only
recognising prior skills but also in imparting
skills through in-person and virtual training
programmes to their platform partners tohone soft-skills, communication, and financial
literacy and proficiency. Needless to say, these
are transferable skills to other professions thatthe partner may choose to switch to, thereby
providing the opportunity for horizontal
mobility in the ecosystem. For instance, aplatform worker driving a taxi may double
up as a delivery executive for the same ordifferent platform, thus creating avenues forhorizontal mobility and improving workers’
remunerative opportunities.
These transferable skills also allow for verticalmobility in jobs which is necessary to expand
earning opportunities and cater to theaspirations in the market. Vertical mobility
marks the gradual upskilling of the worker
through association with the platform andmakes them more skilled at their job, setting
off positive effects through the ecosystem.
Fashion sellers at Myntra receive training
through their in-house entrepreneurshipprogramme to turn their passion to a
successful business, and are able to move up
because of their enhanced skills (Balakrishnan,2019).

4.4.2. P romote Outcome-based orEnds-based Skilling
How can we achieve an ends-oriented
approach to skilling? The answer lies in
imparting skilling through doing, i.e., in a
professional setting.

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of WorkAn example of this model is seen in the
National Apprenticeship Training Scheme of
the Ministry of Education, and the National
Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme and Dual
System of Training initiative of the Ministry of
Skill Development & Entrepreneurship. These
initiatives combine theoretical training withpractical training from Industry Partners,
thereby strengthening industry linkages andproviding hands-on experience to students on
industries’ latest technologies and techniques(PIB, 2019).
Ends-based skilling is best achieved throughonline platform-attachment of workers. Sucha model allows partially skilled workersbe they drivers or plumbers or data-entry
operators- to find work and simultaneously
upskill themselves, in the process also
gaining an income. Iterative upskilling is also
possible, through continuous interaction withplatforms. This yields a learning model whichis also consistent with the demands of the job
as well as affording income.
The National Skill Development Corporation(NSDC) should create skilling, reskilling, andupskilling opportunities in collaboration withplatform businesses, to enable outcomebased or ends-based skilling en masse,
across the length and breadth of India.
Reskilling and upskilling opportunities forworkers presently engaged in the informal
sector can lead them to take up jobs inthe gig and platform sector, enabling themto have jobs with relatively better earnings
and conditions of work. Ministry of Skill
Development & Entrepreneurship is coming
up with Skill India Portal 2.0 which is currently
under development. Skill development
for gig and platform sector would be met
through the proposed features of Skill India
2.0 (erstwhile DESH Stack Portal), currently
under development. Platform companies andworkers associated with the platforms canbe onboarded on the Skill India Portal. The
registering of gig workers will automaticallyrecord their current skill and education
qualifications and verified credentials will bereadily available through proposed “Skill Card”.
New or upgraded qualifications through skill
upgradation initiatives can also be updated
against their credentials on the ‘skill card’. The
proposed features would enable SIP 2.0 toserve as a platform to link skilled candidates
trained through Pradhan Mantri Kaushal
Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) or linked to E-Shram,
National Career Services (NCS) portal etc.
with platform companies for prospective
employment opportunities. 20

4.4.3. P romote Digital and Financial Proficiency across India
Concerted effort from NSDC and the various
Sector Skill Councils (SSCs) is required to train
India’s youth to be digitally and financially
proficient, and empower them to become
micro-entrepreneurs in the platform economy
or start their own platform businesses.
Modules for English, Entrepreneurship and
Employability (EEE) are available under PMKVY.
NSDC and Directorate General of Training(DGT) are collaborating on Employability and
Entrepreneurial mindset development. DGT
would be submitting to release National
Occupational Standards (NOSs) to suit thevaried needs of candidates. These modules
can be part of training modules for gig
workers or can be offered as upskilling.21

4.4.4. Integrate Platform-led Skill­ing Models with India’s
National Mission and Policyon Skill Development andEntrepreneurship
The National Skills Development Corporation(NSDC) has taken several proactive steps
20 Inputs shared with NITI Aayog by MSDE (O.M. no.
MCRN-11/3/2022-O/0 JD (SNP) dated 26th May 2022
21 Inputs shared with NITI Aayog by MSDE (O.M. no.
MCRN-11/3/2022-O/0 JD (SNP) dated 26th May 2022

Creating a Future-Ready Labour Force| 53

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Workin this regard, to recognise the potentialof platform-first jobs and their projected
growth in the coming years. Accordingly,
new Qualification Frameworks (NSDC, 2017)
have been added in step with the emerging
job roles of the platform economy. They
demonstrate the need for an intersectional
understanding of skills across the spectrum,
regardless of job role: each requires digitaldexterity, an understanding of digital financial
management and demands the candidates’
ability to manage time effectively. Therefore,
the skill dividends reaped through platform
jobs, which afford “earning while learning”,
transcend sector-specific ones.
Likewise, it is recommended that the potential
and impact of platform-led skilling be included
in India’s National Policy for Skill Development
and Entrepreneurship (MSDE, 2015). This would
set the right stage for nationwide ends-basedskill development while also catering to theaspirations of a growing young population
which is mobile-first and values flexibility andentrepreneurship.

4.4.5. A ccelerate Skills Training for
Women and Persons with
Disabilities (PwDs)
Promoting skills training and providing
placement support to women and PwDs,
particularly in rural areas, smaller towns,
and cities can encourage them to take up
platform jobs. A greater thrust to training
for skills relevant for platform work can
be given through Government schemes
such as Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas
Yojana, Jan Shikshan Sansthan, and Deen
Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya
Yojana (DDU-GKY). Long-term skill training
programmes through Industrial Training
Institutes (ITIs) can also supplement these
efforts. MoUs between the government andplatform businesses could also incentivise
training for marginalised groups, securing

54 | Creating a Future-Ready Labour Forcethem livelihood opportunities in the platform
economy.
The platform economy, in principle, is freeof any biases. However, due to socio-cultural
reasons more women than men and more
PwDs than non-disabled are deprived ofaccess to the internet, smartphones anddigital literacy. This may prevent them fromobtaining access to livelihood opportunities in
the platform economy. Thus, policy initiatives
that promote access to digital education andinternet for women and PwDs are critical inproviding equal opportunities for all. Schemes
like Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta
Abhiyaan, aimed at imparting digital literacy torural citizens, can be instrumental in enablingrural women and PwDs to learn digital skills.
Central and State Governments, Civil Society
Organisations (CSOs), and businesses canwork on implementing programmes withwell-defined outcomes for women and PwD’s
digital access, mentoring them to take up
livelihood opportunities with platforms.

4.4.6. E nable Transferability andTransplantation of Longterm Skills by Leveraging
Platforms
Platform-enabled skilling generates a digital
footprint, leading to the much-needed
accountability mechanism that the skillingdomain has sorely lacked till date. Platforms
enable the creation of potential “Skill
Certificates” or “Skill Passports” for workers
that platform businesses can provide. This canbe envisaged as a “Skill Badge” in the platformworker’s online profile. This ensures bothtransferability and transplantation of crucial
long-term skills (Ramachandran, 2020b).
By integrating the Skill Development and
Employment/Social Security portals such as
E-Shram and National Career Services portalsof the Ministry of Labour and Employment,
Udyam portal of the Ministry of Micro, Small

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Work& Medium Enterprises, the ASEEM portal andthe upcoming Skill India Portal 2.0 of Ministryof Skill Development & Entrepreneurship –a one-stop solution could be afforded for alarge number of workers India.

Creating a Future-Ready Labour Force

| 55

5

Enhancing Social
Inclusion in the
New-age Digital
EconomyAs discussed in the previous chapters, thelivelihood generation and increased earningpotential of platform jobs, along with theflexibility they offer, are what make them apt
for the new-age digital economy. However,their capacity goes beyond improving
just financial figures. Platform work is
fundamentally gender, race, caste ansd age
agnostic. Any willing individual armed withan internet-enabled smartphone and a vehicle(motorised or even non-motorised), canmonetise their assets, and earn a livelihood(Sundararajan, 2016; Ramachandran, Singh &Narain, 2021). Therefore, this democratising ofaccess to jobs, with low entry barriers creates
equal opportunities for all, which overtime canlead to improvement in the socio-economic
status of marginalised groups. This Chapter
underscores how platformization can leadto a more inclusive economy, empowering
women and PwD (Persons with Disability),
thereby tempering the structural barriers thathave historically hindered their labour force
participation.

56 | Enhancing Social Inclusion in the New-age Digital Economy

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Work5.1. S TRUCTURAL BARRIERSTO SOCIAL INCLUSION :CHALLENGES FACED BY
WOMEN
Despite the tremendous economic growththat India has experienced, only a third of
the country’s women partake in economic
activities. The female labour force participation(FLPR) has remained low, oscillating between
16% to 23% in the last few years (Kumar, 2021;
Kapoor & Negi, 2021). NSSO data (1970-2018)indicates that an increase in householdincomes have led to an apparent decline in
the “need” for women to work (Nikore, 2019).
Research studies indicate that social andhousehold dynamics continue to govern theintra-household division of labour and in turn,women’s choices of paid work, particularly
when they do not have access to child care
support (Khurana, 2015, 2020).
On their part, women typically face constraints
related to time, their dual responsibilities
defined by social norms and disadvantages
related to poverty and intersecting inequalities.
Women, more than men, are concentrated injobs that are low paid and devoid of social
security. This is primarily a result of two factors– discrimination and occupational choices.
Aside from receiving lower wages, women
also tend to choose lower paying jobs likeclerical over production jobs (Bhalla & Kaur,2011). Moreover, there is a confluence of othervaried factors such as less access to educationand less work experience than men thatfurther reduce the earning potential ofwomen (ibid).
The gig economy offers women a wide
choice of work and flexible arrangements
enabling them to have an income along withmanaging their normative responsibilities
of care work in their households. Studies
indicate that women appreciate the income
generating potential of the gig economy
and are its “major beneficiaries” (IWWAGE

2020: 7). However, there could be certain
factors restricting women’s access, theirability to continue in their chosen profession
and their upward mobility. The WESO Report(ILO 2021) points out that while women do
find work on digital labour platforms, they
represent only four in ten workers on online
web-based platforms and one in ten workers
on location-based platforms. This according
to the report (ILO 2021), indicates that theonline labour market poses challenges for
women in accessing work, just as in thecase of the offline labour market. Challenges
that women face in accessing work gig andplatform sector, in upward mobility and theirability to continue with employment in the
sector are analysed based on a systematic
analysis of literature.

Gender Inequalities in Access to
Digital Technology
Even though the gig economy, with thewide variety of employment options it offers,
is accessible to all those who are willing toengage in such employment, access tointernet services and digital technology canbe a restrictive factor.
Significantly, data suggests that women’s
access to internet and to smart phones ismuch lower than men in both urban and rural
areas. According to the GSMA Mobile Gender
Gap Report 2021, only 25 per cent women
owned smartphones compared to 41 per centmen in India in the year 2020. While thesefigures represent a considerable increase
from the previous year when only 14 per cent
women compared to 37 per cent men owned
a smartphone, the difference of ownership
between men and women still remains
stark (GSMA 2021). Usage of smartphones
indicates access to mobile internet and whena woman owns a smartphone “she is almost
as likely as a man to use mobile internet andaccess a range of services” (Carboni 2021).
According to the report, in addition to other

Enhancing Social Inclusion in the New-age Digital Economy | 57

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Workfactors such as changing market dynamics,
Covid-19 restrictions and lockdowns have
driven an increased need, and in some cases,
the required justification for women to go
online. Qualitative research undertaken by
GSMA with female mobile internet users in
Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, as well as expert
interviews, highlighted four important life
needs that had driven smartphone uptake
and mobile internet use among women over
the year 2020: online education for children,
video calls, access to income opportunities
and increased demand on devices in thehome for entertainment and other purposes.
Further research is however, needed tounderstand the implications of this relative
increase in women’s smartphone usage for
their engagement in the gig and platform
economy.
Figures on unequal access to smartphone,
however, do indicate that women still lag
behind in access vis-à-vis men. Womenare less likely to own mobile phones anddigital devices due to both economic andsocio-cultural restrictions. When disposable
income in a household is scarce, it is often
the male members of the household who
get to spend on purchase of digital devices
like mobile phones and laptops or computers.
This disparity is observed more in the case ofrural women. Platforms that require women’s
in-person services may be accessible for
employment only to urban women. Thosethat allow workers to offer remote services
may not also be accessible to several rural
women willing to take up such employment
opportunities, who do not have access tointernet services.

Women’s Normative Responsibilities and the “Double Burden of
Work”
While employment in the gig economy
allows for combining paid work and unpaid

care work, women may feel the extra workburden since they still take care of the
majority of household work (Samman &Hunt, 2016). Research studies among women
workers in the informal sector indicate thatsocial and household dynamics continue togovern the intra-household division of labour
and in turn, women’s choices of paid work,
particularly when they do not have access tochild care support (Khurana, 2015, 2020). Gig
and platform work, in principle, allows workers
to better manage their paid and unpaid carework responsibilities as they get to decide
their work hours and are not required to be
in a structured physical work setting (Kasliwal
2020, IWWAGE 2020, ILO 2021). However,
women’s choices of employment in the gig
and platform economy may still be largely
shaped by their normative responsibilities
of household and care work with womenprioritizing the latter. Studies conducted in
the UK show that women are more likely
to exit from the gig economy. This could
be attributed to their income being of the“distressed” category. Consequently, as soon
as conditions improve, women leave theworkforce. This phenomenon is widely visible
in India’s informal economy as well. Women’s
normative responsibilities of household andcare work is often responsible for their inability
to continue in any form of employment andmore so in employment that lacks job security
and future career prospects (Kasliwal 2020,
Khurana 2020).

Lack of Job Security
A study conducted by Observer Research
Foundation and World Economic Forumin 2018 found that 35 percent of womensurveyed were disinterested in joining the gig
economy due to the lack of job security anduncertain employment status (Kasliwal 2020).
Women’s ability to improve their conditionsof work is also restricted by a lack of voice, a

58 | Enhancing Social Inclusion in the New-age Digital Economy

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Worklack of effective bargaining power, especiallyin a context like the gig economy and theinformal economy. The study undertaken by
IWWAGE also points out that gig workers
experience significant challenges in terms ofregularity of wages and working conditions.
This is an aspect of the gig work structure
where the features of informal work become
evident. Several challenges faced by shortterm contract workers are the same as those
faced by informal workers (IWWAGE 2020).
This uncertainty associated with regularity
in the available work and income may lead
workers, particularly women workers, whoalready manage normative responsibilities ofhousework and child care, to discontinue orgive up employment in the gig sector.
The WESO Report (ILO 2021) found that workon online web-based platforms is the primarysource of income for many, particularly indeveloping countries, and especially for many
women. About one third of respondents
reported that online work was their main
source of income, and this proportion was
higher in developing countries and for
women. The report indicates that platformwork is the primary source of income formany workers in developing countries (44 percent), and especially among women in thesecountries (52 per cent). However, low andunstable incomes was a concern for some ofthese workers. Gig work as a primary sourceof income allows for less flexibility, compared
to when such work is a source of additional
earning (ILO 2021). It is pointed out that when
the numbers of available workers is large,
incentivising workers based on the numbersof tasks completed or on customer feedback
may lead to the loss of work-life balance andplace the worker under duress. Competition
between workers due to increased labour
supply can push earnings down so thatworkers may be forced to work longer hours
and hence compromise on flexibility (Grahamand Woodcock, 2018 in IWWAGE 2020).

Gender-Based Occupational Segregation of Tasks & Pay Gap
ILO’s WESO report found that women are
more likely than men to perform professional
services (such as legal services, translation,
writing and editing), and tasks related tobusiness services or sales and marketing. Few
women mentioned that they performed tasks
related to technology and data analytics (ILO
2021). Across the world, the app-based taxi anddelivery sectors are found to be largely maledominated. Women comprise fewer than 10
per cent of workers in these sectors. The shareof women is considerably higher only in somecountries, for instance in Indonesia in the app
based taxi sector (13 per cent), where femaleonly taxis are preferred by some female clientsto mitigate risks of violence and harassment(Straits Times 2015 in ILO 2021:137-38). It wasalso found that a considerable proportionof workers on online web-based platforms
have experienced discrimination, particularly
women and workers in developing countries.
About 19 per cent of respondents on
freelance platforms reported that they had
experienced discrimination. This proportion
was lower in developed countries (12 percent) than in developing countries (22 percent), where it was also particularly highamong female respondents (25 per cent). The
qualitative responses from respondents indeveloping countries further reflect the factthat discrimination often takes the form of
exclusion from work opportunities or low pay.
This was observed on several platforms wherecertain higher-paying tasks were allocated toworkers from developed countries throughthe platform design. Discrimination based onother factors, such as gender, ethnicity, age
or language spoken, was also reported (ILO
2021).
Findings of studies on online web-based
platforms on the gender pay gap are mixed.
The ILO surveys reveal that when looking

Enhancing Social Inclusion in the New-age Digital Economy | 59

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Workat averages, a gender pay gap can often
be observed, but this may not always besignificant when a statistical analysis isundertaken. The average hourly earnings forfemale online workers were slightly lower
than for male, and they are also lower for
women in developed countries than formen. In developing countries, however, theaverage hourly earnings (paid and unpaid)
for women are higher than for men. Thesehigher earnings among women in developing
countries could be due to their higher
education levels compared to those of men,allowing them to perform better-paid tasks.
Gender pay gaps are also observed in somedeveloped countries. A study in the app-basedtaxi sector in the United States based on datacollected from over a million Uber drivers
found that men earn around 7 per cent morethan women. This gender gap is attributed
to differences in experience, preferences forlocation of work and driving speed (Cooket al. 2018 in ILO 2021). Women’s ability toaccess more work might also be restricted
as they are cautious and less likely to work
during night hours for fear of experiencing
discrimination, harassment or violence (ILO
2021). A report by Teamlease indicates thatwhile a large number of women are joining
the gig economy, they are paid less than men
for the same jobs. The study observed an
8-10 percent difference in the monthly salary
between male and female delivery executives(Kasliwal 2020).

from developing countries and women (ILO
2021).

ILO surveys show that a substantial proportionof respondents are required by platforms orclients to install specific software, or meetcertain hardware and software requirements;
their working hours are monitored byclients; they are requested to be available
during specific times by clients; and they
are required to use a monitoring system forsubmitting screenshots of the work done.
Such mechanisms for monitoring and control
tend to be more frequent for platform workers

5.2. S TRUCTURAL BARRIERSTO SOCIAL INCLUSION:
CHALLENGES FACED BY
PwDs

Concerns regarding Safety
ILO global surveys reveal that about 83 percent of workers engaged in the app-basedtaxi sector and 89 per cent in the app-based
delivery sector reported having safety concerns
about their work, often relating to road safety,
theft and physical assault. In countries withwomen in the sample, higher proportion of
women than men reported being subject todiscrimination or harassment, or were awareof such instances faced by their peers (ILO
2021).
An analysis of the gender aspects of employment in the gig and platform sector thus
indicates that women may experience various challenges with regards to access andengagement with digital platforms including
access to digital technologies, double burdenof paid work and care responsibilities, lack ofjob security, issues of occupational safety, upward mobility and lack of effective bargaining
power. An understanding of the barriers andchallenges that women might face – thoseemanating from their social and economic
positions in the labour market and within
the household – provides an indication of thepathways that can enable more women to
engage in and sustain in their employment
with the platforms.

Labour market challenges are also evident for
Persons with Disabilities (PwDs), who make up
for 2.1% to 10% of India’s population (Kulkarni,2021), but have a labour force participation
rate of 36% (MoSPI, 2021). Even though The
Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 201660 | Enhancing Social Inclusion in the New-age Digital Economy

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Work

increased the mandated 3% reservation for
PwD in Government vacancies from 3% to
4%, along with incentivising 5% reservationin private sector, their needs for meaningfulemployment remain unmet (GoI 1995, GoI
2016).
For PwDs, the structural barriers range fromaccess to education, lack of skilling and a
direct correlation between disability andincidence of poverty. PwDs are more likely
to have lost work or changed their natureof work because of disability. This often
ties disability with lower economic location(Thomas et al, 2012). Initiatives such as the
National Rural Employment Guarantee Act,
200522, are a step in the right direction, butthere is little data to assess how the scheme
may have been utilised by the PwDs.
Thus, dedicated and focussed efforts areneeded to address such structural barriers
that prevent marginalised groups fromtaking part in economic activities. The efforts
made by the government must be bolsteredthrough multi-stakeholder partnerships, anapproach that is foundational to the platform
economy.

5.3. O PPORTUNITIES FORGREATER SOCIALINCLUSION IN PLATFORM
WORKThe socio-cultural and economic biases of
conventional economic models have led
to stark disparities within the labour force,
leaving behind the marginalised. Apart fromthe existing government schemes and policies
to uplift these sections, a new approach isneeded, factoring the changing future of work
22 Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment
Act 2005 is aimed at providing at least 100 days ofguaranteed wage earnings each financial year toeach household whose adult members agree to dounskilled manual labour (GoI, 2018).

on account of digitalisation. Unlike traditionaljobs, the platform economy affords flexibility
and choice of labour, is free of selective biases– such as gender, caste, class or disability bias,
etc. – that often impinges on the ability of the“formal” economy to expand its scope andreach (Ramachandran & Raman, 2021).
The platform economy relies on innovation
to provide access to skill development, social
security, access to finance and job creation,
which are the key pillars of inclusive growth.
A case in point is how beauticians now havethe option to no longer be tied to parlours
that would pay them poorly, despite thembringing in four times the business than theirsalary (Raval, 2019). Platform workers can betheir own boss, while earning higher income,all the while learning skills that support theirfamilies (Pema, 2020). Indeed, platforms
are reframing the role of women in private
and public life. Platforms offer women the
dual benefit of flexibility and choice to workwhen and where they want, and augment
assets – benefits which are absent or limitedin the traditional sectors of the economy.
Thus, labour force participation is no longer
a binary decision between household duties
and economic aspirations, but women now
have the choice to work at will (Raman &Kulkarni, 2021).
The inclusive character of platform economy
goes beyond the accessibility it provides
through app interface to create economic
opportunities. For instance, Zomato has taken
steps to incorporate more PwDs throughactive onboarding and facilitation, while
making the customer aware when a disableddelivery person is assigned to them via theapp (Zomato, 2019). Among other platforms,
Amazon and Flipkart facilities in Mumbai
and Bengaluru, too, are actively hiring teams
who have speech and/or hearing disabilities(Flipkart, 2017). Platforms are forging
partnerships with NGOs to not only create

Enhancing Social Inclusion in the New-age Digital Economy | 61

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Work

livelihood opportunities for women and PwDs
but also to train them in managing orderfulfilment and last-mile delivery. While such
efforts are still not upto the required scale tocreate a measurable impact, they are still an
example for others to follow.

5.4. G ROWING EVIDENCE OF
WOMEN’S PARTICIPATION
IN THE PLATFORM
ECONOMYIt has already been evidenced that platformwork offers flexibility and choice, which are
the primary motivation for individuals to join
this economy. However, for the marginalized,
platform work presents a lucrative opportunity,
which can not only enhance their economic
participation but enable upward social
mobility as well. Discussed in the previous
section, marriage and education have a
direct impact on a woman’s participationin economic activities. In the context of theplatform economy, there is an emerging
positive trend that suggests women are
more likely to take up platform jobs after theireducation and marriage (Raman & Kulkarni,2021). Additionally, the platform economy
offers women the ability to earn extra money,
choose their working hours, place of workand also the nature of work. Studies indicatethat women are “major beneficiaries” of thegig economy and appreciate its income
generating potential (IWWAGE, 2020).

5.4.1. Case Study: Impact of
platforms on women’s
economic empowerment
Source: Adapted from Raman, Ramachandran & Sindhu, 2021
This case study presents evidence froma mixed methods study conducted in
2020-21. The study focused on delineating

the facilitators and barriers for women’s
participation in the platform economy.
Primary data was collected through bothonline surveys and in-person interviews
for two distinct sets of respondents:
Individual Platform Workers and, andAspirational Women. 84 platform workers
affiliated to platforms offering professional
home services, hyperlocal deliveries, andpassenger mobility were interviewed
from October 2020 to February 2021.
A survey of 624 women participants –termed “Aspirational Women” outside
the platform economy was conductedin late 2020 across Bengaluru, Mysuru,
Jaipur, Jodhpur, Udaipur, and Delhi.
Further, a series of telephonic and virtualinterviews were conducted with selectindividuals representing organisations
relevant to the Indian platform economy
in both the private and public spheres.
Experts from over 40 organisations
belonging to governmental, civil society,and private sector organisations acrossthe domains of public policy, skill
development, entrepreneurship, finance,
etc. were interviewed. Government
stakeholders at the Government of India,
and Governments of Delhi, Rajasthan, andKarnataka provided invaluable insights.
Platform businesses engaging women
workers too were systematically studied
and engaged with.
Key highlights frompresented below.
a.

the

study

are

Women are more likely to take up
platform jobs after their educationand marriage.

80% of the respondents are in the agegroup 26-45 years, followed by 18-24
years (18%) and 46-65 years (2%). Of thewomen surveyed, 72% are married. 19% are

62 | Enhancing Social Inclusion in the New-age Digital Economy

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Workunmarried while 5% of them are divorced
and 4% widowed. A majority of the
respondents reported having completed
high school and higher secondary (61%),
with a sizeable number holding diploma
or undergraduate degree (25%).

economic trend where married Indian
women withdraw from the labour force
on account of caregiving responsibilities
and for enabling family’s upward social
mobility.
25%
20%

18%

13%

18-25 years

12%26-45 years

11%

9%
4%

4%

2%

4%

to

to

Chart 13: Primary reasons for choosing
platform work

5%
Divorced

19%

Il
ik
e

W
an
t

Chart 10: Distribution of women platformworkers by age

be

80%

an
en
tr
ap
ep
pl
re
y
ne
th
To
...
e
s
ke
ki
As
lls
ep
su
I’v
m
...
re
ys
d
el
To
in
f
co
bu
ea
m
sy
rn
e
m
an
on
d
ey
th
e.
to
..
pa
Fr
y
ie
fo
nd
r..
Le
.
s/
ss
re
st
la
re
tiv
ss
es
M
ar
or
e
Il
w
e
os
ith
pe
tm
...
rs
on
y
jo
al
b
t
im
an
e
d
i’d
lik
e
to
...

46-65 years

Married73%

Unmarried/Single
Widowed(Blank)70%

19%

Chart 11: Distribution of women platformworkers by marital status

8%

41%

Yes
20%

Sc N
ho o
ol
in
g

b.

D
ip
lo
m
a
U
gr nd
ad e
ua rteC
11 las
or s
12

Cl
a
or ss
10

8%

9

U
Cl pt
as o
s
8

No

Chart 14: Preference for platform work overother jobs

18%

11%

May beChart 12: Distribution of women platformworkers by educational qualifications

The findings suggest a trend where womenare more likely to take up platform jobs
after their education and marriage. This isa positive finding, contrary to the macro-

Women opt for platform workout of the need to participate ineconomic activities to support
dependents.

In the study, over 90% of the respondents
reported supporting two or more
dependents. Over 80% had dependents
younger than 18 years of age.

Enhancing Social Inclusion in the New-age Digital Economy | 63

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Work42%

N = 84

e
om er
H ak
m

Nothing
ent
Stud

33%
25%

100% of total
annual income

At least half but
Less thanless than 100% of
half of total
total annual income annual income

Chart 18: Platform as primary source ofincomeFull time

Chart 15: Women choosing platform work asa full-time opportunity
10%

7%
15%

9%

One
Two
Three
Four
Five

27%

33%

6 or more

Chart 16: Distribution of respondents by
number of dependents

11%

19%

Zero
One
Two
Three
Four

33%
33%

Five

Overall, platform work finds a strong
preference among women, providingthem opportunities that are otherwiseabsent in conventional jobs.
d.

Platforms offer high earning
opportunities for women.

About 38% of the respondents work
between 5 and 25 hours a week and
29% of them spend more than 40 hours
in platform work. The flexibility of work
timings results in a unique advantage forworkers to choose how many hours to put
in a typical workday. Whereas a traditional
beautician/ driver is expected to spend at
least 40 hours on-job, a majority of theseplatform workers spend less than half thattime, while earning much more.
The monthly income of 39% of the
respondents falls in the range of INR
10,000 to 25,000. Of these, 48% of womencite this as their only source of income.
About 34% respondents report a monthly
income of between INR 25,000 to 40,000
while another 20% of them earn around
INR 40,000 to 75,000 per month.
38%

Chart 17: Distribution of respondents by
number of dependents under 18 years of age

c.

Platform labour forms a primarysource of income for the majorityof the women interviewed.

Preference for platform work can also
be seen as it was the primary source ofincome for 75% of the total respondents.

29%
22%
12%
Between
26 and40 hours

Between
5 and
25 hours

Less than
5 hours

More than
40 hours

Chart 19: Hours spent in platform work(per week)

64 | Enhancing Social Inclusion in the New-age Digital Economy

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Work

39%

20%

34%

16%
14%
12%

20%

11%

10%
8%
5%

Women platform workers are more
likely to continue in this workforce
due to the flexibility offered
46%

28%

14%
4%

3%

Ea
rn
W
or
m ing
be ki
on e
in ng
ey xtr
g fo
a
m r
y m
ow ys
W
n elf
or
bo an
ki
ss d
n
Ic gt
ho he
os h
e ou
se
,
Ch
oo
ow s
n ing
W
ta m
or
sk y
k
th in
at g
i
n
Ic
ho a p
os la
D
oi
e ce
ng
w
ha
tI
en
jo
y

5%

Chart 21: Motivation to continue in theplatform economy

Womenparticipantsinplatform
businesses are more likely to continue
in this workforce due to the flexibility
offered, which allows them to manage
their unpaid care work at home and paid
work in their occupation.
This is reinforced by analysis of the reason
for willingness to join platforms as reported
by women outside the platform economy.
Upon being informed of platform jobs, 624
women outside the platform economy
were asked if they would be willing toparticipate in the platform economy andthe reasons for the same. Flexibility, ability
to be an entrepreneur, ability to monetise
assets including skills, assured income, etc.
were the top reasons cited by women
outside the platform economy.

an
en
tr
a
...
pp
As
su
ly
re
th
d
e
in
...
I’v
co
e
m
lo
e
st
a
m
...
To
y
j
o
ea
b
rn
an
m
...
To
on
ke
ey
ep
to
m
...
M
ys
or
el
fb
e
pe
us
rs
y
on
al
tim
e
Le
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ss
ie
st
nd
re
ss
s/
re
la
tiv
es
...

e.

to

to

lik
e

Chart 20: Monthly Income from Platform
work

be

Over
INR 75,000

I’d

INR 25,000 INR 40,000 Less than
to 40,000
to 75,000 INR 10,000

W
an
t

5%
INR 10,000
to 25,000

4%2%Chart 22: Reasons of non-platform women
for willingness to participate in the platform
economyIndeed, platforms are helping reframe therole of women in private and public life.
Labour force participation is no longer abinary decision between household duties
and economic aspirations, but women
now have the choice to work at will.

5.5. B REAKING BARRIERS,
CREATING OPPORTUNITIESThe potential of the platform economy
runs beyond the livelihood opportunities it
offers to the marginalised groups. Platforms
businesses can play a significant role towards
value creation in terms of skilling, digital
literacy, financial literacy and inculcating
entrepreneurial spirit. This value addition may
not only help the individual associated withthe platforms, but can also radiate to theirsocial groups, especially family, in the formof cultural capital.
The dispersed locations, a feature of mostplatforms, widens the geographic possibilities
for PwDs and women to work out of.
Complemented with the ability to set their own
hours, platform jobs have greater freedom andflexibility compared to any other conventional
occupation. Moreover, productive selfemployment is one of the key enablers fora PwD to realise their potential. Platforms

Enhancing Social Inclusion in the New-age Digital Economy | 65

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Work

have been earnestly supporting this, by listingand selling products by entrepreneurs withdisabilities. With fast onboarding and credit
access, they further nurture self-employment
among PwDs (Flipkart, 2019).

5.5.1. C ase Study: Platforms empowering marginalized
Platforms
areempowering
PwDs
and women by boosting their selfesteem in the workplace and creating
opportunities for them to participate as
productive members of society. Amazon
has introduced a first-of-its-kind “Silent
Station” in Mumbai, that employs a large
workforce of individuals with hearing andspeech disabilities (Nair, 2019).
Meanwhile, the e-commerce giant has
also launched “The Saheli Store” on its India
website, for products curated by women
entrepreneurs. In Thiruvananthapuram(Kerala) and Chennai (Tamil Nadu),
Amazon has women-only delivery stations(ibid), aimed at empowering them.
On similar lines, Flipkart too incorporates
individuals with hearing and speechdisabilities to their fleet of delivery
personnel and customer-facing roles. In
their most recent initiative, “Ekartians
with Disabilities”, they are attempting tocreate a diverse and inclusive workplaceand supply chain (ET, 2021).
Such initiatives not only dismantle
stereotypes surrounding the employabilityof women and PwDs, underlining theircapabilities as a crucial member of thesociety, they also lead to skilling of a large
workforce which may otherwise not haveaccess to such training.
From expectations to be chaperoned by amale member of the family to occupational

stereotypes, systemic barriers prevent womenfrom choosing certain professions likebecoming a service provider in the mobility
domain. With the advent of platform jobs,
driving can now be associated with liberatingand empowering women. According to
the case studies by Association for Nontraditional Employment for Women (ANEW),
more women are seeking driving courses
with the motivation to become an earning
member of the family, develop new skills or
to gain agency (Raman, Ramachandran &Sindhu, 2021). Even a few women working
in the mobility space goes a long way
in shattering gender stereotypes for thesociety at large, especially the misogynistic
notions around women being bad drivers.
At the same time, these women developtransferable skills, support their families, gain
access to digital banking accounts and formal
credit. Financial inclusion has been a longstanding matter of contention. In India, only
44% women have bank accounts, with lessthan 2% of those having access to mobilebanking facilities (Kohli, 2018). Holding a bankaccount, especially a digital bank account,
is a prerequisite for a woman entering theplatform economy, with platform businesses
taking steps to help women workers open
one (Raman, Ramachandran & Sindhu, 2021).

5.5.2. C ase Study: Platformization increases access tobanking services
While access to bank accounts is aprerequisite for platform jobs, platformbusinesses are also enabling theirpartners to gain access to formal credit.
Companies like Ola, Zomato, and Swiggy
have partnered with banking platforms
like Avail Finance to provide short-term
personal loans to their workers (Bhakta,2019).

66 | Enhancing Social Inclusion in the New-age Digital Economy

Urban Company has an interest-freeloan programme for its partners, underwhich INR 11 crores have been disbursed
to those eligible, covering almost 85%
of its workforce. Meanwhile, under theirGold Partners plan, partners can avail
small loans in times of emergencies withzero to minimal interest rates (Raman,
Ramachandran & Sindhu, 2021).
As platform businesses are actively taking
steps to include more women and PwDs intheir workforce, benefits of such initiatives
further bolster the government’s efforts toincrease access to banking facilities andfinancial inclusion.
Platformization has the potential to not only
grant a sense of autonomy and agency tothose working in its ambit, but also catalysesocial change by shattering stereotypes, social
constraints and economic barriers. The gender,
caste, disability and age agnostic character ofplatform economy can be leveraged by thegovernment to ramp up its effort towards
creating an equitable society. Creating an

ecosystem that enables platformization as
well as benefits the platform workers, would
go a long way in India’s quest to become amore inclusive society and economy.

5.6. P OLICY RECOMMENDA­
TIONS
Platforms offer flexibility and choice of work to
all through asset monetisation – both physicalassets (vehicles, tools and equipment) andassets of transferable skills (Ramachandran,Singh & Narain, 2021). Given the advantages
they offer, ranging from low-entry barriers,
and ease of access and enrollment, to flexibilityof time, digital platforms have immense
potential for creating livelihood opportunities,
particularly for women and PwDs. However,even with this potential, the platform economy
is not without its challenges, primarily due
to the existing structural inequalities in thelarger economy that could take years toamend. The WESO Report (ILO, 2021) points
out that while women do find work on digitallabour platforms, they represent only four in
ten workers on online web-based platforms

Enhancing Social Inclusion in the New-age Digital Economy | 67

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Workand one in ten workers on location-based
platforms. Thus, if India is to leverage thetrue potential of the platform economy, an
array of enabling strategic interventions withmulti-stakeholder collaborations must be
introduced at the earliest.

Do the platform businesses have ahigher share of women and PwD
managers and supervisors than
traditional companies?

Is the communication used during
on-boarding and training workers
inclusive? Do the training staff or
facilitators use inclusive language,and inspire confidence among
women and Persons with Disabilities(PwDs)?

the



1) G
ender Sensitisation & Accessibility
Awareness Programmes for Workers andtheir Families

Is the communication adapted inlocal languages as well? Is it gendersensitive and accessibility-inclusive
while being translated?

Is there a dedicated helpline forwomen, and PwDs each?

This chapter presents policy recommenda­
tions for the consideration of Government,
Industry, Civil society, Allied businesses, andNonprofits.

5.6.1. Recommendations
Industryfor

Platform
businesses
canundertakepartnerships with Civil Society Organisations(CSOs) and Non-Governmental Organisations(NGOs) to promote legal/ economic/ social
rights of women and Persons with Disabilities(PwDs), especially from marginal andvulnerable backgrounds, thereby increasing
their potential to take up non-traditional
livelihoods. These partnerships will also
help identify talented/ aspirational womenand Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) frommarginal/ vulnerable backgrounds.

2) I nclusive Communication, Systems, andProcesses
Platform
businesses
canimplement
communication plans which are gender- andaccessibility-inclusive. A few considerations tomake while designing internal and external
communication are:


Do
the
communication
pro­
grammes, materials, and messages
perpetuate or promote genderinequality by privileging one sex
over the other? Do they perpetuate
disability stereotypes?

3) P artnerships with Governments, CSOs
& Allied Businesses to Reskill andUpskill Women and PwDs while also
Facilitating their Access to Assets
There is scope for aggregators/platformbusinesses to collaborate with civil society
organisations, social enterprises, and otherrelevant groups which aid in the economic
participation of women and PwDs. The
private sector could provide the necessary
impetus to efforts being undertaken in theareas including, but not limited to, access tofinance, skilling and education. Partnerships
may be formed within existing businessmodels or through new or unique models as
per each organisation’s structure, goals andobjectives.
Partnerships with CSOs/NGOs, and govern­
ment and parastatal agencies to enable
creation of peer and support groups formentorship and any other support including
psychological support, legal aid, financial
literacy, communication, and soft-skills
training too may be explored.

68 | Enhancing Social Inclusion in the New-age Digital Economy

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of WorkTie-ups with organisations conducting
gender/ safety audits and accessibility audits
to aid in data sharing and aggregation isrecommended. This is important for safety
and accessibility mapping, and gender- andaccessibility-budgeting. Independent andperiodic internal surveys, feedback, and audits
to understand the needs, aspirations andchallenges of women and PwDs will also go
a long way in modifying operational structure
to invite and retain women and PwD workers.

and PwDs choosing to work beyond regular
working hours/ festive days: This is a short-run
recommendation, and can greatly motivate
ambitious women and PwD workers, until
there is equity at the workplace.

4) B etter Infrastructure and Work Design
to Create Enabling Environment for
Women and PwD Workers

Platform businesses should make targeted
efforts to mainstream women and PwD
workers into the platform economy
through gender-based and disability-based
onboarding and performance incentives. The
leadership of platform businesses can envisionan equitable workforce for the coming
decade. Further, Key Performance Indicators(KPIs) can be linked to achieve onboarding
targets to gauge the organisation’s overall
success in attaining gender and disabilitybased inclusion.

Incubating childcare services as a community
business can reduce the time cost of carework which is borne disproportionately by
women.
Platforms could explore partnership with local
hospitality businesses/ petrol stations, etc.
where women workers and PwDs can utilise
accessible restrooms and lounges between
work hours, especially in the mobility or
logistics related platform economy.
Platform businesses should have inclusive
and accessible local offices (with partners/ in a
co-working space) for walk-ins by women and
PwD workers. Though it is a diversion from theexisting business model for platforms, a local
office, however sparse, may instil confidence
in women and PwD workers reaching out for
personal support. The platform businesses
may consider a local office for clusters of Tier2/ Tier-3 cities.
Use of technology to create safer workplaces
for women could lead the way in demolishing
the stigma around their safety and mobility,
benefiting women who are engaged or wish
to be engaged in this sector. Panic buttons
and installation of surveillance technology
such as CCTV cameras at workplaces could bea step in this direction.Incentives for women5) Institutionalise Accessibility, Diversity
and Inclusion at the Workplace withinitiatives such as Gender-based andDisability-based Onboarding Targets
and Incentives

Referral bonuses for existing platform workers
to bring onboard their female and PwD
friends/ relatives: Informal networks, andespecially peer groups on social media andWhatsApp, have been found to be the mostuseful in converting an acquaintance into aplatform worker.
Facilitate shared ownership of assets such as
cars/ two-wheelers for part-time workers withother female and PwD workers. Alternatively,
platform businesses may also incentivise maleand non-disabled workers to share ownershipand plying of their vehicles with their female
and PwD family members on a shift-basis.

6) Facilitate access to Social Security
Benefits for Women and Persons with
Disabilities (PwDs)
Platforms can actively facilitate access tosocial security for all workers affiliated toEnhancing Social Inclusion in the New-age Digital Economy | 69

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Workthem, in general, and women and PwDs, inparticular. For detailed recommendations,see Chapter 7.

5.6.2. Recommendations for theGovernment, Civil society,
Alliedbusinesses,
andNonprofits
1) E nsure Universal Coverage of Platform
Workers through the Code on Social
Security
The Code on Social Security (CoSS) 2020
expands worker classifications in India,
recognises two new-age worker categories
and extends social protection to all workers
regardless of their employment status.
Extending social security to those associatedin non-traditional work relations such as
platforms is key to universalising social
security. For detailed recommendations, see
Chapter 7.

2) B
ridge Skill Gaps by Carrying Out
Periodic Assessments and Partnering
withPlatformBusinesses
forOnboarding Skilled Women and PwDs
We need to encourage platform-led skillingfor women and PwDs for them to become
productive members of our economy.
The government should also periodicallyassess the relevance and effectiveness ofsuch ends-based skilling programmes for
women and PwDs especially. For detailed
recommendations on skilling, see Chapter 4.
Further streamlining the availability of
periodic aggregate data on the various
courses on offer and the demographic of theparticipants completing the courses would be
an advantage. This would assist the platformbusinesses in identifying potential services tooffer, geographical markets to operate in, andaspirational workers in those areas.

3) R each Out to Unbanked and Underbanked Women and PwDs to through
FinTech Services
An innovative method to bridge the genderand accessibility gap in digital banking is
to open “UPI-receive-only” accounts while
opening accounts for women and PwD
workers. Through this method, while thewomen and PwD workers are able to carryout expenditure through non-digital methods,
the regular inflow of income also creates afinancial profile for the women and PwDs,
enabling them to access credit in the future.
Public & Private Sector Banks may
employ more women and PwD banking
correspondents. Such representation would
inspire confidence and trust amongst theunbanked and under-banked women and
PwDs from rural and semi-urban areas.
FinTech and new-age financial institutions
have an important role, which needs to berecognised, in bridging the gender andaccessibility gap for financial services. Greater
outreach by such companies needs to be
encouraged and appropriate changes inregulations relevant to FinTech platforms may
be explored. Cash-flow-based-lending at scale
may also be encouraged by leveraging FinTech
platforms. For detailed recommendations on
financial inclusion, see Chapter 3.

4) O
rganise Gender Sensitisation andAccessibility Awareness Programmes
for all Public-facing Personnel fromtraffic cops and law-and-order police
to toll booth operators, et. al.
Gendersensitisationandaccessibility
awareness programmes may be encouraged
for all personnel in public spaces. Local bodies
and parastatal agencies, in partnership withprivate sector organisations or relevant CSOs
may conduct training and workshops toimprove gender sensitivity and accessibility

70 | Enhancing Social Inclusion in the New-age Digital Economy

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Workawareness. This would help prioritise andimprove accessibility of public spaces andsafety of women and PwDs. This may
especially be introduced in the transportand mobility sector where bus drivers, bus
conductors, traffic police and RTO personnel,
toll booth operators, et al may be trained to
improve their engagement with women and
PwDs.

5) Incentivise Inclusive Businesses
Fiscal incentives such as tax-breaks or startup
grants may be provided for businesses thatprovide livelihood opportunities where womenconstitute a substantial portion (say, 30%) of
their workers. Likewise, a platform with highaccessibility or high degree of participationof PwDs too may be rewarded with fiscal
incentives.
Other financial incentives may be considered
for women and PwDs on platforms who
provide services through the hospitality
sector, such as bread & breakfast facilities,
cloud kitchens, etc.

6) M ake Aggregate Data Publicly Available
to Enable Robust Decision-making by
the Ecosystem
For implementation of these provisions, weneed adequate data on platform workers. In
order to have some reliable estimates, gig
and platform work must be included in new
categories in the NSSO surveys to accurately
ascertain their percentage in the Indian
economy. The e-SHRAM portal, a megaplatform for registration of all workers that
do not form a part of the formal enterprises
with linkage to Employee Provident Fund
Organisation (EPFO) and Employee State
Insurance Corporation (ESIC), can also be asource of providing data on gig and platformworkers. The e-SHRAM portal provides
portability and access to various social security
and welfare schemes of the Central and State
governments. This portal can provide dataand information about gig and platformworkers such as their occupation, skill sets
and access to social security. This can help
in enabling them to access different social
security schemes and also in formulating newschemes.

Enhancing Social Inclusion in the New-age Digital Economy | 71

6

Global Examples and
Suggestions for Social
Security for Gig &Platform Workers in
India

World over, there is growing support foruniversalising benefits that have traditionallybeen tied to employment or one’s workplace(Öktem, 2020; Ortiz,​​
2018; Ghai, 2015; Srivastava,
2008; Lautier, 2006; Duggal, 2005). The
enormous public attention being paid to the
gig and platform economy, and in particular,
the robust discussions being conductedaround portable benefits create an important
opportunity to examine how best to provide
economic security, via social protections, toworkers in the 21st century.
The new forms of employment entail work
relationships that are distinctively different
from the traditional or standard employment

contracts (generally considered to be long or
for a lifetime) which form the basis for existingsocial security arrangements. The new formsof employment are often not covered or
are only partially covered under prevailingsocial security systems. It has, thus, become
essential that the social security framework
is reoriented to include the new forms of
employment in order to improve the qualityof new jobs generated, and also meet thegrowing aspirations of a youthful population.
During the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic in
2020, governments and platform businesses,
the world over, formulated special measures
to grant social protection to platform workers.

72 | Global Examples and Suggestions for Social Security for Gig & Platform Workers in India

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Work

This chapter sheds light on the various social
protection approaches taken around theworld for platform workers and how they
can pave the way to a well-structured social
protection regime, especially targeting thisspecific group for a specific purpose.

6.1. U NDERSTANDING SOCIALSECURITY THROUGH
WORKER CLASSIFICATIONS
The world over, worker classification
determines a worker’s access to legal
protection and social security. Thus, in orderto understand social security in the 21st
century, we need to understand worker theclassifications. Traditionally, the labour market
world over bisects into formal and informal.
When an employer hires an employee
under an established working agreementthat includes wages or salary, defined work
hours, pension, maternity and health benefits,disability and unemployment benefits, among
others, such employment is treated as formal.
Consequently, the employee is treated as aformal worker. Conversely, informal work is
devoid of any established working agreement
and the resulting social security benefits.
Such a labourer is called an informal worker.
Thus, in the realms of the formal-informal
distinction, social security is essentially the
non-wage compensation afforded to theemployees in addition to their salary or wage.
Social protection is linked to employment itself,with the worker classification determining aworker’s access to social security.
Then there is the dichotomy of organised andunorganised. The organised sector comprises
licensed organisations or incorporated
companies – such as factories, large
businesses, hotels, etc. – which are registeredand pay taxes. On the other hand, we havethe own-account enterprises forming theunorganised sector of the economy. Thus, theunorganised sector consists of unlicensed,

self-employed or unregistered economic
activity ranging from farming and rural
trade to running general stores or trading
handicrafts or handlooms. Platform work isplaced at the unique intersection of formalinformal classification. A platform worker
exhibits the formal (payments and credit) as
well as informal (time management, dynamic
work relations) characteristics (Kumar &Ramachandran, 2021).
The chapter first looks at initiatives undertaken
for offering social protection for platformworkers during Covid-19 in India and acrossthe world and then examines instances ofchanges brought about in the regulatory
framework or measures for extending social
security to gig and platform workers in
different countries across the world. Drawing
on these initiatives from across the world, thechapter provides suggestions for extendingsocial security to gig and platform workers.

6.2. E
 VIDENCE OF SOCIALPROTECTION FOR
PLATFORM WORKERS
DURING COVID-19
The dual health-cum-economic crisis of
Covid-19 has affected all facets of life in an
unprecedented fashion. No worker – including
the new-age gig and platform workers –is immune to the fall-outs of this crisis. A
systematic study in 2020 documented themeasures taken by governments and platformbusinesses to leverage and protect platformworkers against the pandemic. Platformworkers emerged as superheroes who kept
neighbourhoods connected, and ensured the
supply of essential goods and movement ofessential personnel (The Economic Times,2020)23. By working closely with city authorities,
23 This was in the backdrop of nationwide lockdowns
across the world and pertinently in India on accountof the public health emergency precipitated by the
Covid-19 pandemic.

Global Examples and Suggestions for Social Security for Gig & Platform Workers in India | 73

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Workplatforms and platform workers laid a strong
foundation of social partnerships, thus paving
the way for a far more resilient world. Thanks
to digitalisation, drivers affiliated to passenger
mobility platforms were able to ferry the elderly
and other vulnerable groups to hospitals,
while doubling up as delivery personnel
delivering medicines, food, and groceries tothose in need. Furthermore, platforms forgedtechnology-based partnerships offering lastmile logistic support transporting medicines,

life-saving equipment, etc., and movementof fresh produce from farms to markets ina safe manner, among others (Raman &Ramachandran, 2020b).
Globally, both the government and theplatform businesses implemented a plethoraof measures to protect the lives and livelihoodsof platform workers. Such initiatives arepresented in sections 6.2.1 and 6.2.2.

6.2.1. Case Study: How is India Protecting and Leveraging the Platform
Economy Against Covid-19?
Source: Adapted from Raman & Ramachandran, 2020b; Government of India, 2020

I. Protective measures taken by platform businesses
Platforms like Ola, Uber, Urban Company, Swiggy, Zomato, Dunzo, Flipkart, Big Basket, andDelhivery implemented the following measures to protect workers and their families.
1.

Supporting the livelihood of workers and their familiesa.

Providing health access for all and expanding paid leave
i.

b.

1.

Ola has facilitated free medical help for all driver-partners and their families.
The driver-partners and their spouses will be covered by a sum of INR
30,000 under which they will receive a compensation of INR 1,000 per day
for a maximum of 21 days for an individual from the date they are tested
positive for Covid-19. The cover would include their hospital expenses andhome quarantine prescribed by a doctor.

2.

Urban Company is contributing INR 1.5 Cr to a Covid-19 relief fund to help
the families of 30,000 gig workers.

Offering paid sick leavei.

2.

Providing health access and insurance and covering medical expenses

Delhivery, India’s courier pickup and delivery company has provided paid sickleave for 40,000+ central and field employees and partners. This policy willcontinue through Covid-19 outbreak, with no stipulated end date.

Securing income and livelihoods of gig workers and small businessi.

Safeguarding small businesses
1.

Ola has created a corpus of INR 20 Cr, called the “Drive the Driver Fund” tosupport auto-rickshaw, cab, kaali-peeli and taxi drivers to mitigate the effectsof the lockdown on their income.

74 | Global Examples and Suggestions for Social Security for Gig & Platform Workers in India

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Work

2.

ii.

Waiving lease and insuring payments
1.

3.

Ola has partnered with Avail Finance under the Ola Sahyog initiative to enableinstant access to cash for 100,000 eligible driver-partner families across thecountry. This would provide crucial credit of INR 1200 per week for three weeks
to foot household expenses, set off against future earnings on the platform.

Urban Company is extending interest-free business advances and delayed payback periods to protect the gig workers, self-employed and small businesses
engaged with them.

Protecting workers in the work environmenta.

Strengthening operational safety and health measuresi.

Securing safety and health through training and education
1.

b.

Platforms have laun­ched dedicated hot­lines and websites to disseminate
information and take preventive action.

Mandating the use of hand sanitisers and masksi.

Platforms, particularly, those handling food and other deliveries have mandated
the use of hand sanitizers and masks by their driving
and delivery partners and require them to wash their hands regularly andobserve “coughing etiquette” as specified by WHO and health ministries
around the world.

c.

Adapting the work environmenti.

Enabling contactless deliveries: To ensure the safety of workers during thisemergency, food and grocery delivery platforms have developed no-contact
protocols and temperature checks for its personnel.

ii.

Physical separation: Ride-hail platforms have provided drivers with masks andsanitizers, created physical separation between driver and passenger cabins,and mandated regular cleaning of taxis.

iii.

Servicing new markets, from food delivery to grocery and medicine delivery

iv.

Going digital: encouraging card-less, cashless payments, “no-contact” payments

II. Protective measures taken by the government
To stimulate the economy and labour demand in these challenging times, governments
have announced discretionary measures supplementing existing social safety nets andinsurance mechanisms.
1.

Active fiscal policy & accommodative monetary policya.

Active fiscal policies include social protection measures ranging from targeted
transfers to automatic stabilisers such as unemployment benefits, and public
investment and tax relief for the self-employed, gig workers, and Micro, Small, andGlobal Examples and Suggestions for Social Security for Gig & Platform Workers in India | 75

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Work

Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). Accommodative monetary policies consist of interest
rate reductions, reserve rate relaxation, and targeted liquidity provisions.
b.

2.

While over 20 State Governments in India announced a series of measures, theCentral Government too for its part announced additional cash transfers, medical
insurance cover, and in-kind transfer of wheat/ rice and pulses to beneficiaries
under various existing schemes.

Lending and financial support to specific sectorsa.

India is extending collateral-free loans up to INR 20 lakh each to women in Self
Help Groups.

b.

Under the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, India has announced an INR 20 lakh crore
package on May 12th, 2020, to cater to various sections including cottage industry,
MSMEs, labourers, middle class, industries, among others.

III. Leveraging the Platform Economy for Recovery and Resiliencea.

A few governments are choosing to take an active approach to utilise and expand theservices of gig workers and make them an integral part of crisis management. These
include measures to tap into companies’ resources and logistical networks, and theskills of their gig workers.

b.

In India, the Kerala State Civil Supplies Corporation (Supplyco) in Kochi, partneredwith food delivery service Zomato to enlist grains and other essentials on the app.
By restricting payment to online mode only and by roping in Zomato’s expertise inpackaging to train their staff, this action shows the state’s commitment to public healthand well-being as well as the willingness to cooperate with the private sector.

c.

The ride-hailing platform, Ola, has supported the local administration in Bengaluru(Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, BBMP), India, to provide transportation for
health workers to visit people quarantined at home and ensure their well-being. Ola
and other platforms facilitated visits of health workers to around 20,000 households inthe city. Ola has additionally pledged 500 cabs for the state government of Karnataka
to transport healthcare workers and medicines, and for other emergency purposes.

d.

The Government of India’s Union Health Ministry allowed the doorstep delivery ofessential medicines to curb the need for movement. Many states are following thisapproach for large-scale immunisation as well.

e.

The Government of India provided an enabling environment for online grocery storesto deliver food and essentials to shut-in families during the ongoing lockdown. This
enabled the hiring of a larger number of warehouse workers and delivery partners as
online orders increased.

f.

Further, the Government of India notified all States and Union Territories to exempt
e-commerce operations from any prohibitory order during the lockdown in view of thenecessity to ensure smooth delivery of essential goods and services to all citizens while
practicing physical distancing.

76 | Global Examples and Suggestions for Social Security for Gig & Platform Workers in India

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Workg.

With the need for housing away from home on the rise due to mandatory self-isolation,
hospitality aggregator Oyo offered rooms for quarantines to the Delhi government. Oyo
has also offered crucial free or highly subsidised homes to medical professionals andfirst responders.

6.2.2. Case Study: Global Best Practices on Protecting and Leveraging
the Platform Economy against Covid-19
USA
In 2020, New York City offered help to the gig workers, who were licensed with the Taxi &Limousine Commission, by getting them delivery work (Dickey, 2020). The jobs came withminimum wage guarantee, paid as much as USD 15, apart from reimbursement for gas
mileage and tolls. On similar lines, delivery company Postmates had created a relief fundto support medical expenses of delivery persons affected by Covid-19 (Shieber, 2020). This
provided social security to those suffering from income loss in the wake of business closures.

UK
The FinTech community in the UK came together to build a “Covid Credit”, that would allow
sole traders to self-certify lost income. Their aim was to extend govern­ment relief, which wasotherwise meant for salaried workers, to now be expanded to the self-employed, gig workers,
and small businesses through this Open Banking technology (O’Hear, 2020).

Singapore
In Singapore, Grab offered driver and delivery-partners a one-off income support of USD 5001,000, and a reimbursement of the rental fee for drivers. Additionally, driver-partners were
given a supplemental income for 90 days, through a Special Relief Fund,which consisted of a
combination of daily allowance from the Government and weekly cover by Grab (Grab, 2020).

South Africa
South African startup, Yoco Card Machines accelerated the development of its remote
payment product to enable transfers on its client network through weblink. Yoco is a leading
payments partner for small businesses and this move benefitted them largely, with the
pandemic restricting movement. It also issued a directive to clients to encourage customers
to use the contactless payment option on its point of sale machines (Carraro, 2020).

China
DiDi Chuxing launched a Covid-19 insurance programme that offered medical emergency
allowances to drivers who were working while other means of public transportation in China
were suspended or considered unsafe. DiDi Chuxing engages 20 million drivers and deliverypartners (couriers), who were also given additional cover, through a USD 10 million Relief
Fund for Covid-19 infected drivers and couriers in all the countries it operates in (BusinessWire,
2020).

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India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Work

Hong Kong
UberEats in Hong Kong waived off its service fee for independent restaurants and reduced
it for all other restaurant partners to keep the delivery service afloat, while supporting
businesses, during the first wave of the pandemic. Additionally, it provided them with theoption to receive daily payments instead of weekly, in order to maintain cash flow and pay
suppliers and staff (Korosec, 2020).

India
In India, a similar initiative was led by the Kerala State Civil Supplies Corporation (Supplyco)
in Kochi, where they partnered with food delivery service Zomato to enlist grains andother essentials on the app. Thereafter, the payment mode was restricted to online
mode only and Zomato’s expertise in packaging to train their staff was leveraged as well.
On the other hand, brands such as Flipkart, BigBasket and Grofers were granted permission
to service grocery requests in cities. This enabled the hiring of a larger number of warehouse
workers and delivery partners as online orders increased, offsetting job losses in other sectors
such as travel & tourism, sales and restaurant service to a certain extent (Shrivastava, 2020).
The Government of India, too, had notified all States and Union Territories
to exempt e-commerce operations from any prohibitory order (Ministry of Home Affairs,2020) during the nation-wide lockdown.

The evidence of social protection for platformworkers across different economies of theworld during the pandemic, highlights theunique nature and requirements of this newform of work. These initiatives and measures
show examples of how social security can beplanned at the firm level. Existing designs ofsocial protection were insufficient in covering
platform workers, who needed a range ofadditional interventions such as customised
health insurance, daily allowances fromthe government to cover income loss, andaccelerating development of online payments
modes. This existing evidence of innovativesocial security provisions for platform workers
not only underscores how their potential cantruly be leveraged, but also indicates the needto redesign social security programmes tomeet the unique demands of the changing
future of work.

6.3. C ONTEMPORARY CHAL­LENGES TO REGULATORYFRAMEWORK FOR GIG
AND PLATFORM WORKERS:A GLOBAL ABSTRACT
Even as platformization has spread acrossdifferent economies of the world, thecharacteristics of platform workers acrossnations starkly differ. As has been the casefor many economic models, including the
adoption of the formal-informal dichotomy,
the concepts and ideas around platform
economy are too being largely viewed fromthe lens of developed nations.
Platformization began in the US in 2008, anddespite the key overlapping aspects of thework, the nature of the workforce has beenremarkably different in emerging economies.
While emerging and developing countries

78 | Global Examples and Suggestions for Social Security for Gig & Platform Workers in India

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Workrepresent 82% of world employment, 93% of
the world’s informal employment is in thesecountries (ILO, 2018). Maximum employment
in the informal sector can be seen in Africa
at 85.8%, followed by 68.2% in Asia and thePacific, 68.6 per cent in the Arab States, 40.0

per cent in the Americas and 25.1 per centin Europe and Central Asia (ibid). Below is atimeline of how the regulatory frameworkwith respect to platform work has been
evolving around the world.

6.3.1. USACurrent size of informal workforce: 18.6% (ILO, 2018)

Late 2000s



The founding of Airbnb, Uber, Snap, Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Open Table
catalysed the platform revolution in the second decade of the 21st century (Acset al, 2021).



Platforms in the sharing economy (AirBnB, Uber) were formed in response to theglobal financial crisis of 2007-‘09 (ILO, 2021; Hall & Ince, 2017).

2010 onwards


Platform workers are treated as independent contractors, but businesses assure
them benefits by working with them to create and fund their workers association(Reis & Chand, 2020, Farmer, 2020a; Isaac & Sheiber, 2016).

2019-20

57 million gig workers (McCue, 2018).

Three states – New Jersey, California and Massachusetts challenge worker status.
Worker unions demand that the workers be treated as employees (Kerr, 2019; GWC
Law, 2020).



California becomes the first state to change its labour law and grant gig workers
more labour protections with Assembly Bill 5 (AB-5) (California Legislative Information,2019), that came into effect in January 2020.


The law expanded the definition of an employee, making it harder for employers to classify regular workers as independent contractors, forcing companies
to shift classification of these workers to employees.



AB-5 proposes an ABC-test to determine the employment status of workers
associated with platforms and companies (DIR, 2019).



Under this test, a worker is considered an employee and not an independent
contractor, unless the hiring entity satisfies the following three conditions (ibid):i.

The worker is free from the control and direction of the hiring entitywith respect to the performance of the work, under the contract for the
performance of the work as well as in fact;ii.

The worker performs work that is classified outside the usual work of thehiring entity’s business; andGlobal Examples and Suggestions for Social Security for Gig & Platform Workers in India | 79

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Work

iii.





The worker is customarily engaged in an independently established trade,occupation, or business of the same nature as that involved in the work
performed.

The law mandates by the courts and extends labour protections like paid leave
to about one million people who were formerly classified as contractors.

Opponents say, instead of protecting them, the new law is taking away theirlivelihood because clients don’t want to risk running afoul of the requirements
for California-based freelancers (Farmer, 2020b).



As a result AB-5 will increase labour costs, which would be transferred to theconsumers and reduce the flexibility of workers.



The Bill unintentionally affects truck drivers working as independent contractors. It makes it difficult for drivers to work for themselves. AB-5 presumes
all workers are employees. Therefore, Carriers would either have to convert all
independent contractors into employees, or terminate their agreements andhire a new fleet of drivers (Brin, 2021).



By early Sep. 2020, over 100 exemptions and limitations were made to theoriginal law (AB-5). The Sep. exemption was introduced for the benefit of themusic industry workers. The practical effect is that a test different from theABC-test would be used to determine status of workers in the music industry(Oncidi, Gold & Deserio, 2020).

2020

Californians vote for Proposition 22 (Prop-22), one of the 12 initiatives that appearedon the ballot for votes on 3rd November 2020 along with the US presidential
elections. It exempts gig companies in the ridesharing and food delivery industries
from AB-5, which requires them to treat workers as employees (O’Donnell, 2020).



Platform workers would thus remain flexible, gig-based workers while also gaining
benefits like assured earnings to the tune of 120% of minimum wages and rebates
on healthcare, owed by the platform/ Network Company (ibid).



Through the Prop-22, “The Protect App-Based Drivers and Services Act” came into
being and ensured that rideshare and delivery workers continue to reap benefitsof flexible, gig-based work, alongside economic security.

2021
In August 2021, Alameda Superior Court declares Prop-22 as “unconstitutional”, adecision that has since been challenged (National Law Review, 2021; Bloomberg
Law, 2021).

6.3.2. UKCurrent size of informal workforce: 13.6% (ILO, 2018)80 | Global Examples and Suggestions for Social Security for Gig & Platform Workers in India

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of WorkThe UK is the only country to have the “worker” category between employees and theself-employed. This categorisation gives them entitlements such as national minimum
wage and paid holiday, but does not give them full employment rights, such as theright to not be unfairly dismissed (PwC, 2021; Government of UK, 2021).



Launch timeline of select platforms:







2007: PeoplePerHour



2009: AnyVan

2010: Fiverr2011: Hailo (later, myTaxi; now, FREENOW)

2012: Uber launches in the UK; treats its workers as independent contractors

2013: TaskRabbit, Deliveroo



2015: UpWork

2016: AmazonFlex, UberEats

2016


The UK Government commi­
ssions Matthew Taylor, former head of ex-PM Tony
Blair’s policy unit, to review modern workers’ rights and practices, including platform
work; and to look at a range of issues, including workplace insecurity and anxiety,parental rights, access to pensions, and holiday pay (Mason, 2016).

Labour employment tribunal rules that Uber drivers are not self-employed andshould be paid the “national living wage” and holiday pay (Osborne, 2016).

2017




Good Work: The Taylor Review of Modern Working Practices by Matthew Taylor,publishes its findings and recommendations


The report calls for a new “dependent contractor” category of worker. Statesthat gig economy workers and those on flexible contracts should, through thisnew status, receive benefits such as sick pay and holiday leave (Quinn, 2017).



The status would also mean they are obliged to pay National Insurance
contributions, which was otherwise avoided through gig workers beingclassified as “self-employed” (Taylor et al, 2017).

Uber challenges the 2016 employment tribunal ruling and loses (Davies, 2017).


The Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain, which backed the appeal,says drivers will still be able to enjoy the freedoms of self-employment – suchas flexibility in choosing shifts – even if they have worker status.

2018

The government publishes its response to the Good Work report, launches four
consultations into employment status, increasing transparency in the labour market,
agency and atypical workers, and enforcement of employment rights (ClarksLegal,2019).

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India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Work







The government also releases a report, The Characteristics of those in the Gig
Economy – Final Report, in February 2018. The report posits that 4.4% of the
population in Great Britain had worked in the gig economy in 2017-18 (Department
for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, 2018).



Uber introduces new insurance plan for its drivers and couriers across Europe,
including the UK (Topham & Butler, 2018)


The plan to be free of cost for the drivers.

Drivers who have completed 150 trips in the past two months, or Uber Eatscouriers who have completed at least 30 deliveries to be eligible.

Plan to cover £1,000 for maternal care, with sick pay for injured drivers after aweek capped at £1,125 (ibid).

2019The government holds three more consultations on one-sided flexibility (addressing
unfair flexible working practices), establishing a single enforcement body for
employment rights and proposals to support families (The Law Society, 2020).



In the December 2019 Queen’s speech, the government made its proposals to
introduce an employment bill, which would include changes already anticipatedby the Good Work Plan. However, no progress has been made on this front yet(Ozanne, 2021).

2021


Growth in platform work

2016-’19: People performing platform work at least once a week grew from 5.8% of
the working population in 2016 to 11.8% in 2019 rising to 14.7% in 2021; equivalent
to approximately 4.4 million people (TUC, 2021).



In February 2021, the Supreme Court unanimously rules (Russon, 2021) that Uber’s
drivers are workers as:


The company controls everything, from the fare to the number of rides they
can reject before being penalised.



Uber’s drivers are working from the moment they are logged into the app,even if they are waiting for a ride, and not just when they are actively ferrying
passengers.

In March, Uber reclassifies its 70,000 driver-partners in the UK as “workers” (Pitas,2021).

New benefits under this reclassification (Davies, 2021):


Minimum wage: Uber worker will earn the minimum wage (£8.72 per hourfor people aged 25+) after accepting a trip and after expenses.

Paid Holiday Time: With 12.07% of earnings paid out every two weeks.

82 | Global Examples and Suggestions for Social Security for Gig & Platform Workers in India

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Work

Pension Plan: Paid into by both Uber and the worker, if the worker is eligible(Government of UK, 2020). Here, Uber’s contributions will be 3% of a driver’s
earnings.

Continuation of old benefits: Free insurance in case of sickness or injury as
well as parental payments, which have been in place for all drivers since 2018,
and continued support from Uber’s Clean Air Plan in London, which has so far
raised over £120m for drivers switching to an electric vehicle.



In November, Uber challenges a small part of the Supreme Court ruling, where ajudge’s comments suggest the tech firm should enter into a direct contract withpassengers when providing car journeys. Uber’s contention is that passengers entera contract with the drivers affiliated with Uber, while Uber maintains a contractual
relationship with drivers (Milligan, 2021).

In December, the UK High Court rules that Uber’s existing business model isunlawful. The judgement has ramifications for the entire ride-hailing industry in theUK, with the potential of an indirect price rise, with Uber and others now liable for
VAT, which could add up to 20% more to the cost of a trip (Lomas, 2021; Topham,
2021; Keane, 2021).

6.3.3. European UnionThe European Union at present has a draft underway that will reclassify platformworkers as employees if their work fits certain criteria, set minimum rights for theseworkers, but allow countries under the EU to take forward the implementation as per
their needs (Haeck, 2021a).

The Netherlands







Current size of informal workforce: 9.4% (ILO, 2018)

In 2021, a Dutch Court rules that the legal relationship between Uber and the driversaligns with all the characteristics of an employment relationship: work, salary andauthority (Haeck, 2021b)



As a result, the platform will have to “employ” over 4,000 drivers and pay them by
the rules of the collective labour agreement of the taxi industry (ibid).

France

Current size of informal workforce: 9.8% (ILO, 2018).

In 2020, Cour de Cassation, France’s top court recognises the right of an Uber driver
to be considered an employee, stating that these drivers could not qualify as a selfemployed contractor because he could not build his own clientele or set his own
prices, making him a subordinate of the company (Al Jazeera, 2020).

Spain


Current size of informal workforce: 27.3% (ILO, 2018).

In 2020, Spain’s top court rules that platform businesses must officially hire drivers
as “employees” (Pymnts, 2021).

Global Examples and Suggestions for Social Security for Gig & Platform Workers in India | 83

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Work

A year later, in 2021, Spain’s government pledges to clarify the legal status of couriers
working for online delivery firms, saying they should be considered employees
rather than “gig” workers (France24, 2021).



Later in the year, Spain government enacts legislation that recognises riders working
for delivery firms such as Deliveroo and UberEats as salaried staff. Spain becomesthe first country in the EU to do so (ibid).

6.3.4. IndonesiaCurrent size of informal workforce: 85.6% (ILO, 2018).



2015







Platform economy gains attention, particularly with the popularisation of platformbased online motorbike taxi services, Ojek (Rachmawati et al, 2021).



Platform businesses adopt a “partnership model” with their drivers, to offer greater
freedom and flexibility in terms of hours and work arrangements. These driverpartners are classified as temporary contractors (Mulia, 2021).

2018

Platform services expand beyond ride-hailing to offer last-mile delivery and fooddelivery (ibid).

The on-demand economy in Indonesia, thus, provides workers with an alternative
to existing low wages and underemployment in the informal economy (Fanggidae,
V. et al, 2018).

2021


No-work strikes are carried out by drivers/couriers working with platform businesses,
to express dissatisfaction with low incentive schemes (Mulia, 2021).

Youth organisation, Emancipate, initiates an online petition, which will be sent to
the Manpower Minister, on getting 10,000 signatories. The petition demands new
regulations to ensure decent income schemes, humane workloads, labour rights,
and legal assistance when needed for couriers (ibid).

6.3.5. India
Current size of informal workforce: 92.5% (Ramana Murthy, 2019; NCEUS, 2007)



2017


The Delhi Commerce Driver Union, representing 1.5 lakh drivers in the city, moves
High Court seeking employee status (NDTV, 2017).



The Court directs the central government, as well as the state government toclarify their stand on the issue of worker classification. The case is moved to an
employment tribunal where it is pending (Surie, 2018).

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India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Work

2019-2020

The government introduces the Code on Social Security 2020. The Code acknowledges
gig and platform workers outside the traditional employer-employee arrangement.



The Union Road Transport Ministry issues fresh guidelines for motor vehicle
aggregators that regulates working conditions for the platform drivers (Singh,
2020c).
The driver should receive 80% of the fare from each ride, 20% will go to theaggregator.



The aggregator will be allowed to charge only 50% lower than the base fare.

Drivers to not be permitted to work for more than 12 hours in a day.

Companies to provide them insurance cover (ibid).

2021
During the Budget 2021-22, the Finance Minister announces that minimum wages
will apply to all categories of workers, including the gig and platform workers, andthat they will be covered by Employee State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) (Khan,
2021).



The Ministry of Labour and Employment launches the e-Shram portal, which willregister unorganised workers to create a centralised database seeded with Aadhaar.
The portal would have the following benefits (Ministry of Labour & Employment,
2021):
After registering, the worker will get an Accidental Insurance cover of INR 2 Lakhs
under the Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) and premium forthe first year will be borne by the Ministry of Labour & Employment24.



In future, all the social security benefits of unorganised workers will be delivered
through this portal. In emergency and national pandemic like situations,this database may be utilised to provide necessary assistance to the eligible
unorganised workers.

A petition is filed in the Supreme Court of India, urging the Court to direct theGovernment to extend social security benefits to “gig and platform workers”
engaged with Ola Cabs, Uber, Zomato and Swiggy, and have them treated as
employees (“workman” under existing laws) (Singh, 2021; Suryam, 2021).



The petition is jointly filed by a registered union and a federation of trade unions
representing app-based transport and delivery workers, and two individual drivers
who have worked with Ola Cabs and Uber.

The Supreme Court seeks response from the Centre on the plea. Matter to beheard in 2022 (Roy, 2021).

24 E-SHRAM portal: Frequently Asked Questions, Q8 and Q21.

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India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Work

Apart from the above mentioned countries,
other countries such as Italy, Uruguay, Australia and New Zealand, that have a significant
presence of the platform economy, are also in
midst of debates around the classification of
platform workers (Armellini & Sage, 2021; Carli,
2021; Healey, 2021).
The proportion of informal workforce isremarkably high in the global South, ascompared to the global North. Whereas
countries like the USA (18.6%), UK (13.6%), andSpain (27.3%) have a relatively small informal
sector, the global South paints a contrasting
picture with India (93%), Indonesia (85.6%),
and China (54.4%) (ILO, 2018) showing highlevels of informality. Not only is the proportionof informality higher in these nations, but
their enormous population further adds totheir existing structural insecurities.
In countries of the global North, webbased jobs are performed by a low-skilledworkforce, whereas, in the global South,
these jobs are carried out by relatively moreskilled professionals (Tabares, 2019). In terms
of preference for independent work, only 20
to 30% of the working age population in the
United States and European Union opted
for it. Within them, over half the individuals
engaged in order to supplement their income
from traditional jobs, and around 30% chosethem out of necessities such as inability tofind a traditional job (McKinsey, 2017). On theother hand, in emerging economies of the
global South that witness a high degree of
informalisation, access to traditional jobs islimited and independent or informal work is
a more prevalent option.
In the light of the above evidence, it canbe seen that the purpose of platform jobs
is markedly different in the global Northand global South; and hence the structural
challenges may also differ. As evidenced
in Indonesia, since the advent of platformwork in 2015, the number of mobility sector

workers increased by 5,00,000 within a year
(Rachmawati et al, 2021). Consequently,
Indonesia’s unemployment rate fell from
6.18% to 5.61% in that duration (ibid).
The on-demand economy provides workers
with an alternative to existing low wages
and underemployment in the informal
economy, as seen in Indonesia (Fanggidae,
V. et al, 2018). Additionally, individuals may
have greater flexibility and choice of workand gain additional benefits, which otherwise
informal sector workers are deprived of. In theUK, for instance, even before being classified
as “worker”, platform workers enjoyed several
benefits, such as free insurance in case of
sickness or injury, parental payments whichhave been in place for all drivers since 2018,
and continued support from Uber’s Clean
Air Plan in London, which has so far raisedover £120m for drivers switching to an electricvehicle (Davies, 2021).
It is clear that the need of the hour is toacknowledge the unique features of aplatform worker. In such an event, the worker
entitlements for platform economy mustalso be designed specifically to cater to theirunique requirements.

6.4. BEST PRACTICESThis section throws light on some of the bestpractices followed by countries in providing
entitlements to platform workers, withoutcompromising on their worker classification
status. These practices can serve as a blueprint
for the rest of the world in shaping the social
security ecosystem with the changing futureof work.

6.4.1. Indonesia
Indonesia is one among the few countries
globally that has adapted its regulatory
frameworks and enforcement mechanisms toensure social protection coverage for platform

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India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Work

workers. Indonesia has introduced a digitalmechanism to securitise digital platforms
commonly used for motorcycle taxi rides in
the country. When using the application, asmall amount of the tariff is automaticallydeducted for accident insurance of both thedriver and the passenger for the length of thetrip (ILO, 2018).
Further,Indonesia’ssocialinsurance
administration organisation called Badan
Penyelenggara Jaminan Sosial(BPJS) has
introduced a set of reforms that address
the exclusionary design of conventional
worker entitlement policies tied to statusof employment. The two key schemes
introduced by BPJS are – BPJS Kesehatan
for universal health insurance and BPJS
Ketenagakerjaan for worker insurance. The
latter offers affordable future protection andguarantees to the workers (Yoel & Hasym,2021).
On registering as a member of BPJS
Ketenagakerjaan, workers get access to
three types of insurance: Old-Age Insurance(Jaminan Hari Tua or JHT), Work Accidental
Insurance (Jaminan Kecelakaan Kerja or JKK),
and Death Insurance (Jaminan Kematian
or JKM). The eligibility for such schemes
was limited to company workers, under the
Jaminan Sosial Tenaga Kerja (Jamsostek
or Social Insurance for Workers). However,since the scheme has been rechristened to
BPJS Ketenagakerjaan, it has expanded its
scope to include even those who have ajob outside of a work relationship such as
traders, fishermen, bloggers, artists, athletes,
motorcycle taxi drivers, gig workers and otherindependent workers (ibid).
Moreover, independent workers can get
greater cover under BPJS’ Non-Wage
Recipient (Bukan Penerima Upah or BPU)
program, getting access to guarantees fromBPJS Ketenagakerjaan and also the samefacilities as workers in the formal sector.

Some of the benefits under BPU cover are –care and medical facilities if a worker meetswith an accident at work, full cover for threemonths in case a worker is unable to work as
a result of an occupational disease or work
accident (ibid).
In order to fund social security programmes
and mitigate the economic impact of thepandemic, in 2020, Indonesia has imposed
a 10% value-added tax on digital services
providedbynon-resident
companies(Yu, 2020). Even though there was no specificassistance programme for the online ojek
drivers, the government provided financial
assistance to them through its direct cash
assistance programme, Bantuan Langsung
Tunai (BLT). The programme assisted
those whose earnings were impacted by
the pandemic, by providing cash (US$ 43)
per month for three consecutive months(Rachmawati et al, 2021).

6.4.2. Uruguay
Uruguay has an application to facilitate
mandatory social security coverage for all taxi
drivers, including those operating throughonline platforms, which builds on its effortsof simplified tax and contribution collection
mechanisms for the self-employed andmicro-enterprises (ILO, 2018).
Self-employedindividuals
and
small
businesses that are eligible for Monotax(unified contributions) can either choose to
pay that on the revenue generated by theiractivities (called “Monotributo” in Uruguay),
or contribute to ordinary social security andtaxes (except import taxes) (ILO, 2014). These
Monotax contributions are collected by the
Uruguayan Social Security Institute (BPS) thattransfers a proportion to the fiscal authority.
The remaining amount is used by the BPS
to finance social security benefits for thoseaffiliated through the scheme and theirfamilies. Monotax members can also include

Global Examples and Suggestions for Social Security for Gig & Platform Workers in India | 87

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Work

one-person businesses, for whom the Social
Monotax (Monotributo Social MIDES) has
been created. This Social Monotax can also be
availed by individuals in households earning
below the poverty line or in situations of socioeconomic vulnerability (ILO, 2014).
Uruguay has, thus, introduced adapted
mechanisms for its platform workers. In its
G20 document on social protection, the ILO
notes, “Where such mechanisms are partof the general social insurance scheme orforesee portability arrangements, workers
transitioning from one form of employment
to another, or combining different types of
employment, will not see their social security
coverage interrupted or reduced. At the sametime, the coverage of this type of worker
helps to ensure a level playing field and a faircompetitive environment among economic
actors in the “old” and “new” economy.” (ILO,2018)

6.4.3. India
The Ministry of Labour and Employment,
Government of India, in August 2021, launched
the e-SHRAM portal. The portal is a first-evernational database of unorganised workers,
including construction workers, gig andplatform workers, migrant workers, among
others (PIB, 2021b). The centralised database,seeded with Aadhaar, will give the registered
workers access to an Accidental Insurance
cover of INR 2 lakhs under the Pradhan
Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY). The
premium for the first year will be borne by
the Ministry of Labour & Employment forthis scheme. The government envisages
e-SHRAM as a unified window, wherein all
future social security benefits of unorganised
workers will be delivered through this portal.
In emergency and national pandemic
situations, this database will be utilised toprovide necessary assistance to the eligible
unorganised workers (Government of India,2021).

As of March 2022, more than 27 crore informal workers have registered on the portal, of
which 52% were from the agricultural sector, domestic and household workers (9.9%)
and construction workers (9.1%) (e-SHRAM
dashboard, 2022). When coupled with CoSS
2020, e-SHRAM portal can expand the scopeof social security by giving a large numberof platform workers access to government
sponsored schemes. The blueprint and operationalising of CoSS 2020 have been discussed at length in the following section.

6.4.4. C oSS 2020: Expanding the
Scope of Social Security
Expanding the scope of social security, theCode on Social Security 2020 defines it as“the measures of protection afforded to
employees, unorganised workers, gig workers
and platform workers to ensure access tohealth care and to provide income security,
particularly in cases of old age, unemployment,
sickness, invalidity, work injury, maternity or
loss of a breadwinner by means of rights
conferred on them and schemes framed,
under this Code.” The Code also provides forthe setting up of a Social Security Fund forsocial security benefits to gig and platformworkers with contributions from aggregators/
platforms (between 1-2% of annual turnover),workers and the government. (Ministry ofLabour and Employment, 2020a).
The Code, therefore, acknowledges gig andplatform workers as a distinct category.
Extending social security to those associatedin non-traditional work relations such as
platforms is key to addressing the social
security gap in India and elsewhere. The
RAISE framework presented in the box
below presents a five-pronged approach tooperationalising the Code on Social Security(CoSS) 2020, as Central and State governments
formulate the rules under CoSS 2020.

88 | Global Examples and Suggestions for Social Security for Gig & Platform Workers in India

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of WorkRAISE approach tooperationalising CoSS 2020
As Central and State governments
formulate rules under CoSS 2020, they
could adopt the five-pronged RAISE
approach to ensure realisation of fullaccess to social security for all gig andplatformworkers25(Ramachandran,
Raman & Singh, 2021).

Recognise the varied natureof platform work to design
equitable schemes
Platform businesses within and acrossindustries are inherently different in theirnature of work. To elaborate, the businessmodel and revenues of a rideshare platform
could vary based on the services being
aggregated, the size and scale of operationsof the platform, the specific segments ofworkers and customers the platforms caterto (e.g: all-women rideshare platforms
catering to women customers alone), etc.
Further, platform workers can be associated with multiple platforms simultaneously
or in different time periods through theyear and through their lifetime. Additionally, an individual could be both a platformworker and employed in the organised or
unorganised sectors simultaneously.
These factors should be taken into
consideration while designing schemesthat determine the contribution of funds
to the central social protection corpus.
In so doing, the government can ensurethat schemes are inclusive and afford
maximum coverage for workers, and

25 The following is an excerpt from Issue Brief,‘‘Reimagining Social Protection in the 21st century:
Operationalising the Code on Social Security 2020’,
by the Ola Mobility Institute (Ramachandran, Raman& Singh, 2021) reproduced with permission.

platforms of all sizes and revenues are able
to protect workers while also continuing
their business. This would also ensure
flexibility of the worker to engage withmultiple kinds of work and achieve greater
income security.

Allow augmentation of social
security through innovative
financing mechanisms
Social security schemes must be designed
in a way that allows platform workers
the choice to avail additional social
protection cover such as health or life
insurance through financial institutions
like insurance companies, banks, NBFCs,
new-age FinTech businesses, etc.
Today, FinTech companies are making
insurance accessible and affordable
to platform workers and blue-collared
workers across industries (Mishra, 2020). By
adding millions of youngsters to the pool of
those insured, such micro-insurance, techpowered initiatives are lowering the risk
and the insurance premium by extension.
For platform workers who shall beprotected under the Code on Social
Security, the option of choosing top-ups
empowers the worker to secure coverfor other beneficiaries apart from theones covered in the scheme, and alsocater to healthcare expenses not coveredby the government schemes. Therefore,
platform workers should be allowed to
top up insurance limits through voluntary
additional premiums in the public or theprivate sectors.
Additionally, the government can leverage
the e-SHRAM portal to combine products
like the National Pension Scheme, Atal
Pension Yojana with insurance and aliquid mutual fund.

Global Examples and Suggestions for Social Security for Gig & Platform Workers in India | 89

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Work

Incorporate, while designingschemes, the specific interests ofplatforms, factoring the impact on
job creation, platform businesses
and workers
The very nature of platform work has
ensured the creation of millions of
livelihood opportunities, giving workers
the flexibility to increase their incomesfrom multiple jobs. Furthermore, ​​platforms
may not be limited to only one businessand could have multiple businesses
that may or may not engage platformworkers. Therefore, scientifically rigorous
methods for social security coverage
are needed that would promote job
creation and ensure minimum burden
on both workers and platform businesses.

Support workers to subscribe togovernment schemes and welfare
programmes through widespreadawareness campaigns
Information, Education and Communica­tion are key to increasing the awarenessand utilisation of social security schemes.
As the Code on Social Security 2020 isoperationalised, gig and platform workers
too need to be updated with all relevantsocial security benefits they can avail. The
schemes must detail strong awarenessprogrammes in a manner that government
information reaches each and every worker.
Effective and widespread communication
is essential to raise awareness and ensure
every worker in India is truly protected

Ensure benefits are readily
accessible to workers
Platform workers are mobile i.e. they
can simultaneously work on multiple
platforms or in different states at different
time periods. They can also work in the.

organised or unorganised sectors on
the side. Such mobility makes workers
vulnerable to local-level policy differencesin accessing complete social security
benefits. Therefore, to ensure that benefits
are easily accessed by workers, universal
and portable social security measures areimportant.
Here, India should leverage technology.
India is a global trailblazer in fostering
digital financial inclusion through theunique IndiaStack platform for financialtransactions and Direct Benefit Transfers.
Likewise, while operationalising CoSS
2020, layering technology through all
the stages of accessing a scheme would
streamline distribution of funds. Harnessing
the power of technology, disbursementof funds and grievance redressal canbe achieved for the digitally-proficientplatform workers across India. The recently
launched e-SHRAM portal achieves thegoals of facilitating ready access to social
security benefits to workers as well as
ensuring social protection is portable.

6.5. P OLICYRECOMMENDATIONSCreate Specific Policies to Promote
the Gig and Platform Economy andProtect Workers
India requires a framework that balances
the flexibility offered by platforms while also
ensuring social security of workers.
The consequent platformization of work has
given rise to a new classification of labour —platform labour — falling outside of thepurview of the traditional dichotomy of formal
and informal labour. Apart from impetus
through digitalisation, operating outside thetraditional “employer-employee” relationshipenables platforms to scale within and across90 | Global Examples and Suggestions for Social Security for Gig & Platform Workers in India

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Work

geographies as well as sectors. Policies
designed by platform firms and governments
need to keep in mind specific characteristics
of workers in these sectors. Based on goodpractices identified in the previous sections,the following suggestions are made forframing policies and measures that canbe implemented by different stakeholders
viz. the platform firms, other private sector
actors, civil society organisations, and thegovernment, among others.
Measures for Paid Sick Leave,
Health Access and Insurance: As
illustrated in section 6.2.1, as a part ofinitiatives introduced to mitigate thechallenges posed by the Covid-19
pandemic platform firms such asOla, Uber, Urban Company, Swiggy,
Zomato, Dunzo, Flipkart, Big Basket,
and Delhivery provided sick leave,
health access and insurance covering
medical expenses of workers andtheir families. Such measures forpaid sick leave, health accessand insurance may be adopted by
platforms as a part of their workplace
or work-engagement policies for
all the workers they engage. This
will have positive implications foroffering a social security cover toplatform workers engaged by thesefirms.
Occupational Disease and Work
Accident Insurance: As illustrated
in section 6.3.4, Indonesia is among
the few countries globally that has
adapted its regulatory frameworks
and enforcement mechanisms toensure social protection coveragefor platform workers. Indonesia has
introduced a digital mechanism
to securitise digital platforms
commonly used for motorcycle taxi
rides in the country. When using
the application, a small amount of

the tariff is automatically deducted
for accident insurance of both thedriver and the passenger for thelength of the trip. Ride-hailing,delivery and e-commerce and otherplatforms may adopt such a model
for providing accident insurance toall delivery and driver partners acrossIndia. Indonesia’s social insurance
administration organisation has
introduced an insurance programme
for gig and platform workers.
Some of the benefits under the
programme are care and medical
facilities if a worker meets with anaccident at work, full cover for threemonths in case a worker is unable towork as a result of an occupational
disease or work accident. It may
be explored to introduce such an
insurance programme that provides
social security support to workers in
the case of health emergencies andaccidents. These may be offered incollaboration with the private sector
or government, as envisaged under
the Code on Social Security, 2020.
Retirement/Pension Plans andOtherContingency
Benefits:
As illustrated in the section oninternational regulations for gig andplatform workers, in the U.K., theSupreme Court ruling in February
2021 led to the reclassification of
Uber’s driver-partners in the UK as“workers”. New benefits under thisreclassification included a minimum
wage, paid holiday time, a pension
plan (paid into by both Uber andthe worker), continuation of oldage benefits introduced since 2018such as free insurance in case of
sickness or injury as well as parental
payments and platform company’s
support for drivers switching to an

Global Examples and Suggestions for Social Security for Gig & Platform Workers in India | 91

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Work

electric vehicle. On similar lines, gig
and platform firms need to adopt
policies that offer old age/retirement
plans and benefits and otherinsurance cover for contingencies
such as injury arising from workthat may lead to loss of employment
and income. Such plans and policies
may be uniquely designed by afirm, in partnership with insurancecompanies, or could be designed
and offered in collaboration with thegovernment, as envisaged under the
Code on Social Security, 2020.
Support to Workers in a Situationof Irregularity of Work: The example
of New York City offering help to
gig workers in 2020 is illustrated in
section 6.2.2, who were licensed with
the Taxi & Limousine Commission,by getting them delivery workthat came with a minimum wage
guarantee. On similar lines, such an
initiative may be incorporated by
gig and platform firms to provide
income support to workers. This will
be a critical step in providing assured
minimum earnings and social
security from income loss in thewake of uncertainty or irregularity
in work.

Supporting Small Businesses &Entrepreneurs associated with
Platforms: As illustrated in section
6.2.1, as a part of initiatives introduced
to mitigate the challenges posedby the Covid-19 pandemic, Urban
Company extended interest-freebusiness advances and delayed
payback periods to protect the
gig workers, self-employed andsmall businesses engaged withthem. Kerala State Civil Supplies
Corporation in Kochi partnered withfood delivery service Zomato toenlist grains and other essentials on
the app. Following such examples,
small businesses and entrepreneurs
can be encouraged to have linkages
with platforms to expand outreachfor their products and services.



Contingency Cover out of a Corpus
Fund: As illustrated in section 6.2.1, inorder to support auto-rickshaw, cab,kaali-peeli and taxi drivers to mitigate
the effects of the Covid-19 lockdown
on their income, Ola created a
corpus of INR 20 Cr, called the “Drive
the Driver Fund”. Measures such asoffering a social security cover outof a corpus fund can help support
gig and platform workers and otherself-employed individuals associatedwith the gig and platform sector incase of contingencies.

92 | Global Examples and Suggestions for Social Security for Gig & Platform Workers in India

7

The Future of the
Platform Economy –A Research Agenda

As the gig-platform economy grows, there
is a burgeoning interest from all quarters
to study its impact on the microeconomic
and macroeconomic levels. While thisreport estimates the size of the gig-platform
workforce in India, demystifies the impactof platformization on livelihoods in urban
India, outlines the characteristics of platform
labour and workers, and presents evidence
on its innovative practices to drive social andfinancial inclusion, further research is needed
to improve our collective understanding of
the platform economy.
This chapter, therefore, outlines importantquestions for future research.

7.1. T HE SURVEY OF SMALL
PLATFORMS
The WESO 2021 report by the ILO notes thatIndia – like the rest of the world – witnessed
an exponential growth in digital platforms in
the last decade. At approximately 8% of theworld’s platforms, the number of platforms
in India is estimated to have increased from10 or fewer in 2010 to over 60 in 2020 (ILO,
2021). While the report does not provide
a comprehensive list of platforms in Indiaeven in the common categories of online(a) web-based work, (b) passenger mobility,(c) hyperlocal deliveries, and (d) professional

94 | The Future of the Platform Economy – A Research Agenda

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Workhome services, journalistic accounts mention
widespread platformization of domestic
work, gardening, elder care, mechanic work,
at-home care, among others. For instance,
Delhi and Bengaluru had at least over 17
digital platforms for domestic work as of late2019 (Tandon & Rathi, 2019). In the late 2010s,
several home cook aggregator platforms too
were launched in metro cities across thecountry. Thus, numerous platforms of varying
sizes across all the professions listed above arepresent in India. Their varied sizes warrant
suitable policy action, with no one-size-fitsall approach.
For instance, while a large platformmight have the wherewithal to contribute
substantially to social security, a small
platform business with limited funding orrevenues may find it prohibitively expensive
to pay the necessary welfare fees or taxes.
Thus, a differentiated approach is warranted
to ensure that platforms of all sizes survive
and thrive. At present, the regulatory debate
around platform businesses takes a blanket
approach of treating all businesses the same.
However, the functioning and issues of small
platform businesses are not the same as
those of their bigger counterparts. Applying
uniform regulations and policy interventions
without accounting for how their impact
may vary according to the size of a platform,
would prove to be detrimental to the growthof smaller businesses.
In this context, there is a need to conduct
a big survey of small platforms in India,
enumerating all platform businesses in the
country, ranking them by size, delineating
their characteristics based on a systematic
analysis, and recommending policy measures
for their growth in the years to come. As has
been India’s experience with the Micro, Small,
Medium Enterprise (MSME) sector, small firms
unlock jobs in the millions and contribute
substantially to the economy. They need to

be strengthened by leveraging technology,
improving their efficiencies, etc., all of which
can be addressed through platformization.

7.2. WOMEN-RUN PLATFORMS
Women-run firms in the platform economy
have been fairly successful in attracting andretaining women workers over the past few
years. They adopt comprehensive measures
to catalyse the participation of women in
the economy. However, they do not scaleas rapidly as their counterparts in India.
Studies have documented their challenges
from limited network effect to heightenedsafety and security concerns women face inpublic spaces (IFC, 2018; IFC, 2020; Raman,
Ramachandran & Sindhu, 2021).
Therefore, greater information is needed tounderstand the difficulties faced by womenrun platforms. Extensive research into thisdomain would help design incentives topromote their growth and help them scaleup.

7.3. A RE PLATFORMS
FORMALIZING OR
INFORMALIZING THE
ECONOMY?
There is also an urgent need to explore thequestion being asked globally, on whether
platforms formalise or informalise theeconomy? Formalising the economy canbe viewed from the lens of the firm andestablishment or lens of labour. The former
pertains to the financial aspect of a business;whether or not it pays taxes, files paperwork
with regularity, etc. This is about standardisingand bringing structure at the enterprise level.
The labour perspective refers to conditions ofwork and the status of workers engaged by
the firms under investigation. Therefore, thelabour view is all about formalising everyday

The Future of the Platform Economy – A Research Agenda | 95

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Work

work practices and including workers in theformal work processes (Castells & Portes, 1989;
Unni, 2018; Sehrawat, et al, 2021).
In this backdrop, a pan-India study on theformalising or informalising effects of theplatform economy must be undertaken.
It should also be determined if the effects
vary based on the degree of urbanisation,
among other factors. Such a heightened
understanding of the platform economy will
enable India to protect workers suitably while
also creating an enabling environment for thesustainable growth of the platform economy.

7.4. C ONTRIBUTION OF THE
PLATFORM ECONOMY TO
INDIA’S GDPThis report presents an indirect approachto estimate the growth in the size of the
gig-platform economy and its contribution
to India’s economic output. Alternative
approaches grounded in actual data of thenumber of workers wearing the platform
labour hat are necessary. Furthermore,using these estimates, the platform
economy’s contribution to India’s GDP
must be determined. This exercise may alsoenable India to unpack the pace at which
platformization is occurring across industries
and what enablers and barriers might becausing the same.

96 | The Future of the Platform Economy – A Research Agenda

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Endnotes[1]	States and Union Territories that havelegalised bike taxis (in alphabetical order):Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chandigarh, Goa,
Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Madhya
Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Punjab,
Rajasthan, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, andWest Bengal.
[2]	See page 30, Fairwork India Report
2020, for estimates of each of the elevenplatforms.
[3]	Digital India is a flagship programme of
the Government of India with a vision totransform India into a digitally powered

122 | Endnotes

societyandknowledge
economy(Ministry of Electronics and Information
Technology, 2015)[4]	We use secondary and tertiary sources
here.
[5]	
See page 30, Fairwork India Report
2020, for estimates of each of the elevenplatforms.
[6]	See Section 3.3 for a detailed classificationof platform labour categorised by reachand complexity of labour.
[7]	While this has been observed for gig
jobs with high complexity, women alsoIndia’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Work

take up location-specific platform jobs
such as providing professional home
services, delivering packages, or ferrying
passengers, as can be seen in Chapter 5.
Thus, women value flexibility and choiceof labour allowing them to monetise theirskills and tangible assets when and where
they want. This helps reframe the role ofwomen in public and private life. Thus,
labour force participation is no longer
a binary decision between household
duties and economic aspirations, but
women now have the choice to work at
will (Raman & Kulkarni, 2021).
[8]	Notably, platforms help workers set up
their bank accounts and also facilitate
their access to institutional credit, as canbe seen in the forthcoming chapters of
this report.
[9]	Today, any individual with access to a twowheeler, with or without a commercial
permit, can deliver packages, food,groceries, medicines etc., in the digital
hyperlocal economy. Such individuals
are different from the traditional motor
vehicle drivers who drive vehicles withcommercial permits alone. Thus, many ofthese traditional occupational categories
need to be expanded and/ or redefined.
[10]	The census adjustment has been done on
the basis of Census and NSSO population
data sets. First the Weighted NSSO
population figure was estimated fromthe concerned NSSO employment andunemployment rounds both for ruralurban and male and female differently.
After that, the given figures are divided by
the concerned census population figure.
We have taken the census figures fromthe Report of the Technical Group on
Population Projection, RGI, Census 2011.
After getting the respective ratios, they
are multiplied with the multiplier figure

to get the census adjusted weights.
[11]	
monthlyperexpenditure

capitaconsumption[12]	
Partners are independent contractors
associated with a technology platform
where they offer/ advertise their services
so that end users (citizens) can find them.
[13]	Labour provided by ‘knowledge workers’,
i.e. employees of Business Process andKnowledge Process Outsourcing of theearly 2000s[14]	This evidence was first published in thereport, Unlocking Jobs in the Platform
Economy: Propelling India’s post-Covid
Recovery, Ola Mobility Institute, February
2021 (Ramachandran & Raman, 2021).
[15]	The control group of the survey includes
personal chauffeurs, auto drivers, kaalipeeli taxi drivers, radio- taxi drivers forcompanies such as Meru or Fastrack etc.,
drivers of tours and travels companies,
chauffeurs of hotels, drivers for dedicatedtrips to schools, colleges, and offices, etc.,
and other such categories. The driverpartners of platforms constituting theexperiment group of the survey include
drivers of cabs, auto-rickshaws, biketaxis and city-taxis or kaali-peelis. It is
important to note that a driver-partner
can be attached to more than one
platform.
[16]	23 cars per 1000 population, and 128 twowheelers (scooters, motorbikes) per 1,000
population (Ministry of Road Transportand Highways)[17]	A self-employed driver is one who owns
or rents the asset- car/ auto/ bike- anddrives it either on the platform or outsideof it.
[18]	A wage-worker driver does not own thevehicle he drives; instead he is employedby the owner of the asset or by a fleet

Endnotes | 123

India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Work

company, and “typically” has a fixedsalary for a particular number of hours ofwork. These drivers are also found within
and outside of the platform economy.

For the remainder of the economy,
the organised sector essentially refers
to all companies and government
administrations. (Dougherty, 2008)[19]	
States and Union Territories that havelegalised bike taxis (in alphabetical order):Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chandigarh, Goa,
Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Madhya
Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Punjab,
Rajasthan, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, andWest Bengal.

[25]	This was in the backdrop of nationwide
lockdowns across the world andpertinently in India on account of the
public health emergency precipitated by
the Covid-19 pandemic.

[20]	
India’s Country Summary of Higher
Education, World Bank[21]	The ILO defines microtask platforms asa type of web-based labour platformthat provide businesses and otherclients with access to a large, flexible
workforce (a “crowd”) for the completionof small, mostly clerical tasks, that can becompleted remotely using a computerand Internet connection.
[22]	
MahatmaGandhiNational
Rural
Employment Act 2005 is aimed atproviding at least 100 days of guaranteed
wage earnings each financial year toeach household whose adult members
agree to do unskilled manual labour (GoI,
2018).
[23]	
The organised sector in manufacturingconsists of factories (or plants) that haveten workers or more and use power, or 20
workers or more and do not use power.

124 | Endnotes[26]	
E-SHRAM portal Frequently
Questions, Q8 and Q21.

Asked[27]	
Excerpt from Issue Brief, ‘‘Reimagining
Social Protection in the 21st century:
Operationalising the Code on Social
Security 2020’, by the Ola Mobility Institute(Ramachandran, Raman & Singh, 2021)
reproduced with permission.
[28]	Ayushman Bharat is a flagship schemeof the Government of India launchedto achieve the vision of Universal Health
Coverage. Ayushman Bharat has twointerrelated components: health andwellness centres and Pradhan Mantri
Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY). While thecentres are work in progress, PM-JAY
aims to provide free healthcare accessto 40% of India’s population, those at thebottom of the pyramid. As of December
20, 2020, a total of 128+ million e-cards
were issued under PM-JAY and state
government-sponsored health insurance
programmes, with PM-JAY constituting
70% of the enrollment. https://pmjay.gov.
in/Designed by