Workers, unions, and the gig economy

Workers' movements in India have historically been organised through trade unions in factories, mines, railways, banks and public services. Unions bargain over wages, hours, safety and job security, and they use strikes, negotiations and political pressure. Article 19(1)(c) protects the freedom to form associations and unions, although the law also regulates strikes, especially in essential services, and the recognition of unions. Over time, much of India's workforce has remained in informal or unorganised work, where union membership is harder to sustain and legal protections are weaker.

The gig economy has added a new difficulty. Delivery riders, drivers and other platform workers are usually classified by platforms as partners or independent contractors, not employees. Workers' groups argue that this classification leaves them without guaranteed minimum wages, protection against sudden deactivation from an app, paid leave, or formal collective bargaining rights, even though platforms set prices, allocate work and monitor performance. Platforms argue that gig work offers flexibility, supplementary income and low barriers to entry, and that treating all platform workers as employees would reduce opportunities and raise costs.

The law is now catching up, but incompletely. The Code on Social Security, 2020 defines gig and platform workers and provides for welfare schemes funded in part by aggregator contributions, described in government and legal summaries as 1% to 2% of annual turnover, capped at 5% of amounts paid or payable to gig and platform workers. The four labour codes came into force on 21 November 2025, replacing 29 central labour laws, according to government announcements reported in November 2025. The government has presented the codes as expanding social security and formalisation. Ten central trade unions criticised the rollout as unilateral and anti-worker. Implementation — including registration, state rules and actual scheme design — remains a live question, and readers should check current rules rather than assume a scheme is already operating.

NITI Aayog's report "India's Booming Gig and Platform Economy" (June 2022) estimated about 7.7 million gig workers in 2020–21, projected to rise to 23.5 million by 2029–30. Those figures are projections, not a census, and they show why the issue is now central to labour policy. Informal unions such as the Indian Federation of App-Based Transport Workers have organised riders and drivers, and some states, including Rajasthan, have enacted their own gig-worker laws. The central question remains whether flexibility and protection can be combined.