Virag Gupta's column: 'Gig workers' should also get legal rights to minimum wages

Drivers, delivery boys and temporary workers associated with aggregator companies like Ola, Uber, Zomato, Amazon, Swiggy, Big Basket are called gig workers. In this year's budget, a provision has been made for registration in the e-Shram portal, ID card and health insurance under Ayushman Bharat for gig workers. During the Delhi election campaign, Modi's guarantee also stated that a welfare board would be set up to provide life insurance of Rs 10 lakh and accident insurance of Rs 5 lakh to auto, taxi, e-rickshaw drivers and gig workers. It is important to understand 5 legal aspects related to this. 1. e-Shram portal: The e-Shram portal, which was launched four years ago, plans to link the UAN number with Aadhaar. In the budget speech last year, the Finance Minister had said that the e-Shram portal will be made a one-stop center by linking it with other portals like MNREGA, National Career Service, Skill India, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, Shram Yogi Maandhan. With this, gig workers can get the benefit of all schemes in all states. There are 30.48 crore workers registered in the e-Shram portal, of which about 53% are in the agriculture sector. Last year, the labour ministry gave tech companies three months to register more than 10 million gig workers in the country. So, Budget promises are like old wine in a new bottle. 2. Exploitation: Due to continuous monitoring with the use of digital tools and navigation technology, exploitation of gig workers has also increased. A few months ago, Amazon warehouse workers went on a Black Friday strike demanding better pay and better working conditions under the banner of 'Make Amazon Pay'. According to the NHRC survey, two-thirds of the workers in the unorganised sector are forced to bear the brunt of disease and humiliation due to exploitation and irregular work. Women's participation in gig workers is very low due to irregular working hours and exploitation. Despite exploiting drivers and delivery boys, companies do not even want to pay them minimum wages. 3. Labour laws: In 2019-20, the central government issued four sections of the Social Security Code, amalgamating 44 labour laws. The Prime Minister, at the Labour Ministers' Conference in August 2022, had also talked about bringing gig workers under the ambit of social security. But for the last 5 years, labor laws are not being implemented. The judges had slammed the central government for not responding to the petition filed in the Supreme Court in 2020 for the protection of gig workers for 4 years. According to the judges, India is the founding country of the International Labour Organization. Therefore, gig workers should get legal protection like minimum wages, accident insurance, ESI, health and PF from the aggregator company. 4. Learn from the world: England's employment tribunal granted Uber drivers full-time worker status in 2016. The European Union's Court of Justice said in 2017 that Uber should follow the law as a transport service rather than an aggregator. Gig workers in Singapore get retirement benefits and accident, health and life insurance in Indonesia. The statement was issued at the G-20 conference held at Bharat Mandapam to protect gig workers. Uttarakhand's UCC Act provides for registration of live-in, then why should tech companies not make public the details of the contract with the gig worker? 5. State laws: In Rajasthan, a law has been made to create a welfare fund by collecting a cess of 1 to 2 percent and imposing heavy penalties on companies for not following the rules. Karnataka's proposed law requires minimum wage, 12-hour shifts and 14-day notice for layoffs. Such initiatives are also taking place in Telangana. But due to the legal elasticity of the intermediary and weak financial conditions, gig workers in the states are not getting concrete relief. Organisations like IAMAI and NASSCOM have slammed the new state laws as against the 'ease of doing business'. Aggregator companies are doing uninterrupted business across the country. There is a need for strict implementation of labour laws on an all-India basis to ensure the safety of gig workers. After the formation of the Eighth Pay Commission, there will be a big increase in the salary and allowances of government employees. But delivery boys and temporary workers who are being exploited should also get legal rights to minimum wages. (This is the author's opinion)