gig workers
The government has directed app-based platforms like Swiggy, Zomato, Uber, Ola, Rapido, Blinkit and Zepto to register their gig workers on the e-Shram portal and complete the integration process by June 21. This will pave the way for providing social security benefits to lakhs of workers. According to a report in Times of India (TOI), the Labor Ministry has issued this instruction after notifying the rules under the ‘Code on Social Security’ last month. Under these rules, registration of gig and platform workers is mandatory within 45 days.
The aim of this initiative is to create a large database of workers associated with digital platforms, so that the government can start welfare schemes like health insurance, life cover and pension schemes. The registration process will also help in issuing a unique national ID for gig workers, improving portability and giving more formal recognition to the sector, which is currently largely part of the unorganized economy.
Penalties will be imposed on companies
The ministry has warned the aggregators that failure to meet the June 21 deadline may result in penalty or other action under the ‘Social Security Code’. According to the newly notified rules, a gig or platform worker is a person who works for at least 90 days in a year with a single aggregator, or for a total of 120 days on multiple platforms. It has also been made mandatory for aggregators to provide information about new workers joining and leaving work on real-time or daily basis through the central portal.
TOI report says that the government has been pressurizing the platforms for some time to share the data of workers and help in registration, but the progress in this direction has not been uniform in all the companies. Shaikh Salauddin, co-founder of the Indian Federation of App-Based Transport Workers (IFAT), told TOI that many aggregators have failed to implement the earlier instructions seriously. He said that aggregators should work responsibly and follow the law. There should be no further delay. Workers cannot wait forever for their welfare schemes.
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