Gig Worker Scheme On Labour Ministry’s 100-Day Plan — NDTV Profit Exclusive

The Bhartiya Janata Party government is said to have instructed ministries to work on setting a 100-day agenda for implementation after the formation of the new government post the general elections.

Talks on contributions to the social security corpus and mapping individual workers onto the eShram portal are currently underway, as the ministry is holding talks with popular aggregators, a senior official told NDTV Profit on the condition of anonymity.

Options for a possible social security corpus are also being worked out, and some more clarity is expected in the next few weeks. The government is also looking to onboard workers to the eShram portal, so they may benefit from other social security schemes too, the above-mentioned official said.

The Code on Social Security, 2020, under the Labour Codes includes social security schemes for gig workers and platform workers on matters relating to life and disability cover, accident insurance, health and maternity benefits, and pensions, among others.

Setting up a Social Security Fund is also part of the same code, with contributions from aggregators accounting for up to 1-2% of their annual turnover. This is subject to the limit of 5% of the amount paid or payable by an aggregator to such workers, according to the code.

Media reports suggest that startups such as Ola, Uber, Zomato, Swiggy and Urban Company are already in talks with the ministry.

NDTV Profit has further learned that individual conversations with aggregators have been going on for months.    

The government is also working out the finer details of the labour codes, including key themes such as ease of doing business, decriminalisation, reduction in compliance burden, female workforce participation and migrant and unorganised sector workers such as gig and platform workers, to ensure it can be made operational as part of the 100-day agenda if the need arises, the official said.