Gig Workers and the Law: Are India’s Labour Codes Enough?

For all the food we order on Zomato or the cabs we booked on Ola, somewhere the delivery partner/driver wakes up late morning and puts all his energy to make a living through his phone at end, then here’s that one very necessary question nobody asks in a public, bold voice: Does The Law Care?

India recently passed four major Labour Codes[1] that are supposed to modernise the working conditions of millions of Indians. But when I read through them carefully, I realised something: the gig worker the backbone of India’s booming platform economy still lives in a legal grey zone.

Who is a Gig Worker, Really?

But before discussing the ‘law’, let’s get to know whom we’re talking about. A gig worker is a person without a formal employer, who works via digital platform app or web platform and receive their payment by the task or hours they put in. Swiggy’s delivery agent, Rapido’s bike taxi rider, the various freelance individuals providing services on websites such as Fiverr, and also the ones who’ll come to provide services for urban clap are classified as gig workers. According to the ILO, the ‘gig economy in India is growing at one of the fastest rates globally’, impacting millions across country as ‘livelihoods’[2].

Yet, they are not recognised as ‘employees’ under most traditional labour laws. They are called ‘independent contractors’ by the platforms they work for. This single label changes everything it means no provident fund, no paid leave, no job security, and no guaranteed minimum wage.

What Do the New Labour Codes Say?

India’s new Social Security Code, 2020 is the first time a central law has even mentioned gig workers.[3] It defines a gig worker and says the government may make schemes for their welfare for things like life and disability cover, health and maternity benefits, and old age protection. This sounds promising on paper.

But here is the problem: the Code uses the word ‘may.’ It does not say the government ‘shall’ create these schemes. In legal language, ‘may’ means it is optional. The platforms themselves are only asked to contribute a small percentage to a welfare fund and even that has not been notified or enforced yet. So while the law acknowledges gig workers exist, it has not yet given them any concrete, enforceable rights.

A research paper by the NLU Delhi Labour Law Centre highlighted that gig workers face a ‘double exclusion’ excluded from the definition of ‘employee’ and also not fully included in the new gig worker protections.[4] This means they fall through every crack in the system.

Rajasthan Showed the Way – But Can One State Fix a National Problem?

Rajasthan was the first in India to get its own law enacted in the year 2023, Rajasthan Platform Based Gig Workers (Registration and Welfare) Act, 2023[5]. The law has a separate welfare board for gig workers, the platforms have to register their gig workers and contribute to their welfare fund. This was a huge step forward. It showed that meaningful legal protection for gig workers is not just an idea it can actually be done.

However, one state’s law cannot protect a delivery agent who works across multiple states, or a freelancer who takes clients from all over India. Labour law is a subject in the Concurrent List of the Indian Constitution, meaning both the Centre and states can make laws on it. But without a strong central law that is actually enforced, millions of gig workers remain unprotected in most of India.

The Classification Problem: Employee or Contractor?

The biggest legal battle over gig workers, both in India and globally, is about how to classify them. In the United Kingdom, the Supreme Court in Uber B.V. v. Aslam ruled that Uber drivers are ‘workers’ a category between an employee and an independent contractor and therefore entitled to minimum wage and holiday pay.[6] Similar cases are pending in Indian courts as well.[7]

From a legal perspective, the classification of a worker determines everything which laws apply, what benefits they get, and who bears responsibility when something goes wrong. Right now, most Indian platforms classify their workers as ‘partners’ or ‘contractors’ specifically to avoid being treated as employers. This is a legal strategy that works under the current law, but it may not be ethical, and arguably, it is not fair.

As a law student, I find it intellectually interesting and deeply troubling that the same person can be called a ‘partner’ when the company wants to avoid liability, but becomes a ‘worker’ when the company wants to use them to fulfil customer demands. The law should not allow such convenient flexibility at the expense of the worker.

What Should Actually Change?

This is not just an academic debate. Real people are affected every day. A gig worker who gets into an accident while on delivery has no guaranteed medical cover. A worker who is suddenly ‘deactivated’ by the app has no legal recourse, no notice, and no severance pay. These are not small problems they are basic human dignity issues that the law must address.

Three concrete changes are needed. First, India needs a clear legal definition that creates a separate ‘gig worker’ category not employee, not contractor, but something in between that still carries meaningful rights. Second, the welfare scheme provisions in the Social Security Code need to be converted from ‘may’ to ‘shall’ so that governments are actually obligated to create and fund these schemes. Third, there must be a transparent grievance redressal mechanism, so a gig worker who is unfairly deactivated or underpaid has a legal forum to approach.

Conclusion

India’s Labour Codes represent a step forward, but only a small one when it comes to gig workers. The acknowledgment is there, but the protection is not. As the gig economy continues to grow, and as millions of young Indians enter the workforce through digital platforms, the law cannot afford to remain vague and optional.

I started thinking about this as someone who uses delivery apps and ride-hailing services every week. I end this piece as a law student who believes that the greatest test of any legal system is whether it protects those with the least power. Right now, India’s laws are failing that test for gig workers. It is time for the legislature, the courts, and legal scholars to take this issue seriously before the gap between the law and reality becomes impossible to bridge.

References

[1]The Code on Wages, 2019 (No. 29 of 2019); The Industrial Relations Code, 2020 (No. 35 of 2020); The Social Security Code, 2020 (No. 36 of 2020); The Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 (No. 37 of 2020).

[2] International Labour Organization, World Employment and Social Outlook: Trends 2021 (ILO, Geneva, 2021).

[3]The Social Security Code, 2020, s. 2(35), defining ‘gig worker’ as a person who performs work or participates in a work arrangement and earns from such activities outside of a traditional employer-employee relationship.

[4]Gig Workers at Risk: Platform Economy and Labour Rights in India, National Law University Delhi Labour Law Centre Working Paper No. 3 (2022).

[5] Rajasthan Platform Based Gig Workers (Registration and Welfare) Act, 2023 (Rajasthan Act No. 6 of 2023).

[6]Employment Rights Act 1996 (UK), s. 230; Uber B.V. v. Aslam [2021] UKSC 5.

[7]Vikram Nair v. Union of India, W.P. (C) No. 468/2021 (Delhi High Court, pending).