A NITI Aayog report estimates that more than 7.5 million workers were engaged in the gig economy in 2020-21 in India. This could grow to 23.5 million workers by 2029-30, making up for 4.1% of total livelihood in India. The Gig Economy holds a great significance in India, as it provides advantages like democratization of jobs, enhancing social inclusion, cost-effectiveness, enhancing income etc. However, as gig economy is growing rapidly, gig workers face many challenges as follows:

• Lack of technology diffusion: Lack of uniform access to internet services and digital technology acts as a restrictive factor for workers willing to take up jobs in the gig and platform sector.
• Job insecurity: Lack of job security, irregularity of wages, and uncertain employment status for workers are significant challenges faced by the gig workers. Further, there is no clarity on how and when incentive structures and advancement in jobs would be provided.
• Lack of social security: There is also the challenge of paid sick leave, health access and insurance due to lack of formalisation.
• Rising stress: This is due to uncertainty associated with regularity in available work and income. Also there is stress due to pressure from algorithmic management practices and performance evaluation on the basis of ratings.
• Lack of grievance redressal mechanism: There is no authority regulating the working conditions of gig workers. For instance, when Ola and Uber started cutting back incentives, the drivers in Mumbai decided to go on ‘strike’. But there was no clarity against whom they were holding strikes.

Faced with the above challenges, following policy measures for gig workers are needed:

• Increase access to institutional credit for gig workers and those interested in setting up their own platforms.
• Unsecured loans extended to first-time borrowers in the platform economy may be classified as Priority Sector Lending.
• Skill development of youth and workforce to make them employable. Platforms can enable the creation of potential “Skill Certificates” or “Skill Passports” for workers.
• Governments can ensure universal coverage of gig workers through the Code on Social Security.
• Various benefits like paid sick leaves, health access, insurance for gig workers, retirement /pension plans, occupational disease and other contingency benefits can be provided to gig workers.

Providing social security for the rising gig economy workers is the need of the hour. Many such steps are being taken in this direction like RAISE Framework for operationalizing the Code on Social Security (CoSS), 2020 and Centre & States have been asked to adopt a five-pronged approach to ensure realisation of full access to social security for all gig and platform workers when they draw up rules and regulations under the code.