Impact Of The 2024 Labour Code Amendments On Gig Economy Workers: Analysing The Code On Social Security, 2020, Platform Worker Protections, And The 2023 Karnataka High Court Ruling
- IJLLR Journal
- 2 days ago
- 1 min read
Kalla Jagadeeswara Reddy, B.A. LL.B. (Hons.), School of Law, CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Bangalore
ABSTRACT
The rapid expansion of India's gig economy — encompassing platform workers employed by aggregators such as Uber, Ola, Swiggy, and Zomato — has exposed a profound regulatory vacuum at the intersection of labour law and the digital marketplace. The Code on Social Security, 2020, and the associated 2024 draft notifications represent India's most consequential legislative attempt to extend social security protections to this previously excluded workforce, estimated at 7.7 million workers by NITI Aayog. This paper critically examines the substantive provisions of the 2024 notifications, with particular focus on the gig and platform worker welfare fund mechanism, employer contribution obligations, and the definitional frameworks that determine coverage. It situates these amendments within the broader context of the four Labour Codes consolidation project and evaluates their practical enforceability. Central to the analysis is the landmark 2023 Karnataka High Court ruling, which, though decided in a narrower context, has significantly influenced judicial thinking on the employment status of app-based workers. The paper argues that while the 2024 notifications mark a normative breakthrough, structural ambiguities in the definition of 'aggregator', the voluntariness of worker registration, and the absence of dispute resolution machinery substantially undermine their transformative potential. The paper concludes with comparative observations from the United Kingdom and the European Union, and policy recommendations directed at the legislature, tribunals, and platform companies.
Keywords: Gig Economy, Karnataka HC, Labour Codes, Platform Workers, Social Security.
