Rajasthan Govt Introduces Bill To Provide Social Security Benefits To Gig Workers

The aspect of social security benefits for gig workers has been a contentious issue ever since the gig economy started flourishing during the pandemic.

Although the centre has been urging states to come out with policies and legislations in this direction, nothing concrete materialised in this direction.

In a positive development in this direction, the Rajasthan government on Friday tabled the Rajasthan Platform Based GIG Workers (registration and welfare) Bill, 2023, which is the first such bill in the country. 

The bill provides for a number of measures to protect the rights of gig workers, including:

• The establishment of a welfare board to oversee the implementation of the bill.
• The creation of a unique identification number for gig workers.
• The mandating of a welfare fee to be deducted from each transaction between a gig worker and an aggregator.
• The imposition of monetary penalties on aggregators who fail to comply with the bill.
• The welfare fee will be used to provide gig workers with a number of benefits, including health insurance, life insurance, and pension benefits.
• The bill also sets up a monitoring mechanism to ensure that gig workers are not being exploited by aggregators.
• The bill is applicable to all gig workers in Rajasthan, regardless of the platform they work on.