Overview of the Gig Workers' Strike and Labour Ministry Draft Rules

The recent strike involving approximately a lakh gig workers in India highlights critical issues around gig economy regulations. This unrest coincides with the Labour Ministry's release of draft Rules aimed at operationalizing new labour codes.

Key Issues with Draft Rules

• Social Security Focus: The draft Rules focus solely on social security for gig workers, excluding wages and working conditions from the new regulatory framework. 
• Exclusion from Employment Relationship: The Code on Wages, applicable across various sectors, does not recognize gig work as part of an 'employment' relationship, which excludes gig workers from certain wage protections. 
• Platform Obligations: Platforms are only required to contribute to a social security fund, leaving workers' demands for better wages and transparent incentive structures unaddressed. 
• Conventional Compliance Models: The OSH&WC (Central) Rules rely on traditional compliance mechanisms, inadequate for addressing challenges unique to app-mediated work environments. 

Provisions and Concerns in Draft Rules

• Registration and Updates: Gig workers must register on a portal, and aggregators are required to update worker details quarterly. 
• Eligibility Conditions: Workers must engage for a minimum of 90 days with one aggregator or 120 cumulative days across different aggregators within a financial year. Earnings from multiple platforms in a single day can count as multiple days. 
• Penalties and Absent Protections: Current windows could penalize workers unable to work due to caregiving responsibilities or demand slumps. Protections for illness, maternity, and demand collapses are absent. 

Recommendations for Improvement

• Inclusive Thresholds: Include protections for illness, maternity, and demand fluctuations within the 90- and 120-day thresholds. 
• Clarity on Benefits: Clearly define available benefits, dispute resolution mechanisms, minimum social security support, and a time-bound claims process. 
• Transparency from Aggregators: Require aggregators to provide workers with regular statements detailing jobs, hours, earnings, and deductions, along with a mechanism to contest discrepancies. 

Without these critical changes, the structural issues causing the gig workers' strikes are likely to persist, leaving many aspects of gig work insecure and unprotected.