Gig workers’ body urges Centre to implement social security provisions under labour code

The Indian Federation of App-based Transport Workers (IFAT) has urged Union Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya to immediately operationalise the social security measures for gig and platform workers under the Code on Social Security (CoSS), 2020.

In a letter sent to the minister earlier this week, the workers’ body said that more than two crore app-based workers, including cab drivers, delivery personnel and home-service providers, continue to work without formal rights, minimum safety nets or institutional support, despite forming a key part of India’s digital services economy.

The CoSS, 2020 was the first legislation in the country to formally recognise gig and platform workers and to lay down a statutory framework for their welfare, covering benefits such as life and disability cover, accident insurance, health and maternity benefits, and old-age protection.


However, IFAT said that nearly five years after the law’s enactment, no concrete welfare schemes have been rolled out. “Workers remain without meaningful social protection even though the law exists,” the letter stated.

The federation has called for immediate steps to implement the code’s provisions, including setting up the National Welfare Board for Gig and Platform Workers and activating the Social Security Fund, which is to be financed in part through contributions from platform aggregators.

It also recommended that workers’ representatives be given a role in designing and monitoring social security schemes, and that the government leverage existing institutions such as the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) and the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) for faster delivery of benefits.

Further, IFAT has demanded the introduction of a dedicated Gig & Platform Workers Act in Parliament to address what it described as the “unique nature of work and social security challenges” faced by app-based workers.