समाचार Samāchār · Startups · 31 October 2026

Gig workers get a national board. Platforms get a seat and a bill of 1–2% of turnover

The Labour Ministry has constituted the National Social Security Board for unorganised, gig and platform workers. It will recommend the schemes that aggregator contributions pay for.

India’s gig workers now have a national institution. The Ministry of Labour and Employment has notified the National Social Security Board for Unorganised Workers and Gig and Platform Workers. PIB announced it on 30 October. The board is set up under the Code on Social Security, 2020, which came into force on 21 November 2025.

The Union Labour Minister chairs it. Members include the Centre and the states, aggregator companies, employers, civil society, workers’ unions and gig and platform worker associations. It must meet at least three times a year. Its job is to recommend schemes for these workers, advise the Centre, monitor welfare schemes, review state record-keeping and review spending from the fund.

The money is already defined. Under the Code, aggregators contribute 1–2% of annual turnover to a social security fund. The contribution is capped at 5% of what they pay or owe gig and platform workers. Inc42 notes that Swiggy, Zomato, Blinkit, Zepto, Ola, Uber, Amazon and Flipkart are among the platforms that could carry the obligation. Benefits are tied to an Aadhaar-linked account so they travel with the worker across states.

This is the right direction. Delivery riders and drivers carry India’s consumption economy. Cover for accidents, health and old age makes that work a career, not a gap between jobs. Karnataka already has its own gig workers’ welfare board. One national rulebook beats a patchwork of state levies.

The test is execution. Schemes should be simple, portable and paid on time. Compliance for platforms should run on one digital filing, not many. Build it like UPI, and the gig economy grows with a floor under it.

What a founder takes from it: The levy is no longer a line in a code. It now has a board that will decide how it is spent. Platform founders should model 1–2% of turnover into unit economics now and take their seat seriously. Good schemes that keep workers on the platform pay for themselves.