The Flexibility Vs. Protection Paradox: Assessing The Rights And Social Security Of Gig And Platform Workers Under India’s Transitioning Labour Law Framework
Amolika Maheshwari, Ananya Singh & Tanishka Singh, National Law Institute University, Bhopal
ABSTRACT
India’s four Labour Codes have, for the first time, given statutory recognition to “gig workers” and “platform workers”. That recognition sits in the Code on Social Security, 2020 alone and stops short of employment status, wage floors, collective bargaining or workplace safety rights. This paper examines how that design leaves a partial safety net, how courts and international instruments approach the underlying classification question, and why states such as Rajasthan and Karnataka have enacted parallel welfare statutes. It then assesses the administrative and federal difficulties these overlapping regimes create and proposes a multi-stakeholder governance model aligned with the ILO’s 2026 Convention on decent work in the platform economy. The paper argues that the “third category” approach, without substantive rights attached, risks codifying precarity rather than resolving it.
Keywords: gig workers; platform workers; Code on Social Security, 2020; aggregators; employment classification; welfare boards; ILO Convention No. 193.
