In a significant move, the Labour Ministry has proposed a 90-day annual work threshold as the mandatory eligibility criteria for gig and platform workers to access social security under new draft rules on the Social Security Code 2020, published on December 31, 2025. For workers engaged with multiple aggregators, the threshold has been proposed at 120 days.
According to the new rules, a worker will be treated as an employee from the day he/she starts earning an income, regardless of the amount. Besides, if a worker is associated with multiple aggregators, his/her days of work will be counted cumulatively across all platforms. For example, if a gig or platform worker is engaged with three aggregators on a particular day, this will be counted as three days.
The new rules will apply to all workers engaged by the aggregator directly or through an associate company, subsidiary or limited liability partnership or through a third party.
Importantly, in a bid to give relief to the gig workers, the new labour codes propose social security such as health, life, personal accident insurance and various other benefits.
Moreover, these workers will be treated as a part of ‘Ayushman Bharat’ and have been registered on ‘e-Shram’ portal. They may also be eligible for pension later based on contribution by both the platforms and gig workers.
According to the proposed rules, every eligible registered gig and platform worker will be issued an identity card, digital or otherwise.
Besides, the draft notification has laid down the proposed composition of National Social Security Board, which will be responsible for assessing the number of gig workers and platform workers, identifying new types of aggregators and formulating welfare policies for them. The board will have five representatives nominated by govt from associations of unorganised sector workers and employers’ each.
The proposal comes amid strikes by gig workers’ union, demanding fair wages, dignity and safer conditions. As a reprieve to the workers, the Union government asked all quick-commerce platforms to drop the controversial “10-minute delivery” promise.
For the unversed, gig economy, derived from ‘gig’ meaning temporary or project-based work, refers to a labour market where workers (gig workers) are hired for specific tasks (“gigs”) rather than permanent roles, often connected through digital platforms like apps -service-based, knowledge-based or asset-based. Ride-sharing such as Uber, Ola, Rapido; food delivery like Zomato and Swiggy, freelance writing, and consulting comes under this category. This type of job gives workers the freedom to choose when and where they work, often juggling multiple gigs.
What’s driving the gig workers
Interestingly, in India, gig work, mostly in delivery, logistics, transportation, online services, e-commerce to be precise is expanding at a rapid pace, especially since pandemic times. Various platforms including medicine stores, groceries, veggie markets are using it to the optimum to deliver services at customers’ doorsteps in minutes.
If reports are to go by, gig work is all set to dominate a fair share of the non-agricultural workforce by the end of the decade. In fact, according to Niti Aayog, the number of workers is projected to rise to 23.5 million by 2030 from 7.7 million in 2021.
Scenario in Odisha
Odisha, one of the emerging IT/ITES hubs, also has a fast-growing base of gig and platform workers, especially in cities like Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Rourkela, Berhampur, among others. Food delivery riders, ride-share drivers, etc. are increasingly becoming popular among the customers. A 2021 report shared by government of Odisha stated the presence of around 52,000 gig workers in the state. The number has likely risen due to platform expansion in the last few years, especially post pandemic.
The new rules once implemented would give momentum to the already expanding sector. In other words, the new labour code will go a long way in reshaping the state’s labour market that comprises both the private and the public sector. By bringing delivery riders and cab drivers under formal social security scheme, it would encourage employment by creating more job opportunities.
Besides, it would also allow platforms to work for the welfare of workers by investing more in their safety.
More importantly it would curb heavy migration from the state. It may be noted that as per the Census and NSS data trends, lakhs of workers from Odisha—both skilled and unskilled—migrate to states like Telangana, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra every year.
Last but not the least, bringing gig workers into a semi-formal system will play an important role in expanding the state’s labour data, and help in policy reach and enable fiscal planning capacity.
However, it would require a proactive mindset from the government of Odisha to make it successful. As Labour comes under the Concurrent List of the Constitution of India, the success of these reforms would primarily lie with the state.
Also Read: How can Odisha turn India’s growing GDP into an industrial powerhouse?
