Closing The Gap: How Karnataka's New Bill And The Social Security Code Could Redefine Gig Worker Rights

Introduction

India's rapidly evolving economy has witnessed a massive shift from traditional employment to widespread use of Gig and Platform workers. Initially, this trend began with a few e-commerce platforms, but now there are numerous such platforms, employing 7.7 million people as Gig-workers. As per Niti Aayog, gig workforce is expected to expand to 23.5 million workers by 2029-30. A large segment of India's workforce consists of Gig-workers, yet the country still lacks specific legislation to regulate their employment. The need for such regulation has long been recognized, but it became even more urgent during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the vulnerabilities of Gig-workers were starkly highlighted.