Gig Workers and Platform Workers

Section 112: helpline and facilitation centres

The appropriate Government may set up a toll free call centre or helpline, or such facilitation centres as it considers necessary, to perform any one or more of these functions:

• (a) to disseminate information on available social security schemes for unorganised, gig and platform workers;
• (b) to facilitate filing, processing and forwarding of application forms for their registration;
• (c) to assist them to obtain registration; and
• (d) to facilitate their enrolment in the social security schemes.

A small section with an obvious purpose. Everything in Chapter IX depends on registration, and registration depends on the worker knowing the scheme exists and being able to complete a form. Section 112 exists because a right nobody can find is not a right. It is permissive: the Government may set these up.

Section 113: registration

Section 113(1), the two conditions. Every unorganised worker, gig worker or platform worker shall be required to be registered for the purposes of the Chapter, subject to:

• (a) he has completed sixteen years of age, or such age as the Central Government prescribes; and
• (b) he has submitted a self-declaration, electronically or otherwise, in the prescribed form and manner, containing the prescribed information.

Sixteen, not eighteen. Contrast section 106, which sets eighteen for a building worker beneficiary. The two ages sit in the same Code and are examined against each other.

And notice what condition (b) does not require: an employer's certificate, a contract, or any proof of engagement. A self-declaration is enough. For a workforce with no documents, that is the whole point.

Section 113(2), the application. Every eligible worker shall apply in the prescribed form with the prescribed documents including the Aadhaar number, and shall be assigned a distinguishable number.

The proviso. The system of electronic registration maintained by the appropriate Government shall also provide for self registration by any such worker, in the prescribed manner.

Section 113(3), the effect. A registered worker shall be eligible to avail the benefit of the concerned scheme framed under the Chapter.

Section 113(4). The Central or the State Government shall make such contribution in a scheme as may be specified therein.

The Explanation gives "Aadhaar" the meaning assigned in section 142.

Section 113(3) is the pivot of the whole Chapter. Registration is what converts a category into an entitlement. An unregistered gig worker is defined by the Code and covered by nothing.

Section 114: schemes for gig and platform workers

Section 114(1), the six subjects. The Central Government may frame and notify suitable social security schemes for gig and platform workers on:

1. life and disability cover;
2. accident insurance;
3. health and maternity benefits;
4. old age protection;
5. creche; and
6. any other benefit determined by the Central Government.

Compare section 109(1), the unorganised workers' list: life and disability cover, health and maternity benefits, old age protection, education. The gig and platform list adds accident insurance and a creche and drops education. That difference is worth stating in an answer, and it fits the work: app based work is road work, so accident insurance matters more, and it is done at irregular hours, so a creche matters more.

Section 114(2), what a scheme may provide for. The manner of administration; the agency or agencies implementing it; the role of aggregators; the sources of funding; and any other matter the Central Government considers necessary.

Section 114(3), how it may be funded. Wholly by the Central Government; partly Central and partly State; wholly by contributions of the aggregators; partly Central, partly State and partly by contributions from beneficiaries or aggregators; from the corporate social responsibility fund within the meaning of the Companies Act 2013; or any other source.

Section 114(4), the aggregator contribution. This is the provision to know. The contribution to be paid by aggregators, for the funding referred to in section 141(1)(ii), shall be at such rate:

• not exceeding two per cent, but
• not less than one per cent,

as the Central Government notifies, of the annual turnover of every such aggregator who falls within a category specified in the Seventh Schedule.

The proviso, the second cap. The contribution by an aggregator shall not exceed five per cent of the amount paid or payable by the aggregator to gig workers and platform workers.

The Explanation. The annual turnover shall not include any tax, levy and cess paid or payable to the Central Government.

Two caps, and a good answer names both and explains why there are two. The turnover cap of one to two per cent measures the aggregator's size. The five per cent of what it pays the workers cap measures how much of the work it actually routes to gig workers. Without the second, a huge business with a tiny gig operation would pay a contribution out of all proportion to the workers it uses. Both must be satisfied, so the contribution is the lower of the two.

Section 114(5). The date of commencement of the contribution from aggregators is to be notified by the Central Government.

Section 114(6), the Board. The National Social Security Board constituted under section 6(1) shall be the Board for the welfare of gig and platform workers. The proviso substitutes a different membership when it sits for that purpose, replacing the members in section 6(2)(c) and (d) with:

• five representatives of the aggregators;
• five representatives of the gig workers and platform workers;
• the Director General of the Corporation;
• the Central Provident Fund Commissioner of the Central Board;
• such expert members as the Central Government considers appropriate;
• five representatives of the State Governments by rotation;
• a Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Labour and Employment as Member Secretary.

One Board, two memberships. When it sits on unorganised workers it has the section 6(2) composition; when it sits on gig and platform workers it has this one, in which aggregators and workers are equally represented, five and five.

Section 114(7), the details left to rules. The Central Government may provide for the authority to collect and expend the contribution; the rate of interest payable by an aggregator on delayed, short or non-payment; self-assessment of contribution by aggregators; the conditions for cessation of a gig or platform worker; and any other matter for the smooth functioning of the scheme. It may also, by notification, exempt an aggregator or class of aggregators from the contribution, subject to specified conditions.

The Explanation. An aggregator having more than one business shall be treated as a separate business entity or aggregator for each.

A worked example

QuickRide is a ride hailing platform. Its annual turnover, excluding taxes, levies and cesses payable to the Central Government, is 500 crore rupees. In the same year it paid 40 crore rupees to the drivers who take rides through it. Assume the notified rate is one per cent and that QuickRide falls within a category in the Seventh Schedule.

Is QuickRide an aggregator? Yes. Section 2(2) defines an aggregator as a digital intermediary or a marketplace for a buyer or user of a service to connect with the seller or the service provider.

Are its drivers employees? No, on these facts. They earn outside a traditional employer-employee relationship, so they are gig workers under section 2(35); and because the work reaches them through an online platform, they are also platform workers under section 2(61), doing platform work under section 2(60).

What is the contribution on the turnover basis? One per cent of 500 crore, that is 5 crore rupees, within the statutory band of not less than one and not more than two per cent: section 114(4).

What is the cap on the other basis? Five per cent of the 40 crore paid or payable to the gig and platform workers, that is 2 crore rupees: the proviso to section 114(4).

So what does QuickRide pay? 2 crore rupees. Both limits apply and the proviso caps the contribution, so the lower figure governs. A student who stops at the turnover calculation gives the wrong answer, and this is exactly how the question is set.

Does its turnover include GST? No. The Explanation excludes any tax, levy and cess paid or payable to the Central Government from the annual turnover.

QuickRide also runs a separate food delivery business. By the Explanation to section 114(7), an aggregator having more than one business is treated as a separate business entity or aggregator for each.

Now take one driver, Salim, aged seventeen.

Can he register? Yes. Section 113(1)(a) requires that he has completed sixteen years, or such age as is prescribed. Had he been a building worker seeking registration under section 106, the age would have been eighteen.

What must he produce? A self-declaration in the prescribed form, electronically or otherwise, under section 113(1)(b), and an application with the prescribed documents including his Aadhaar number under section 113(2). He is then assigned a distinguishable number. He may self register through the appropriate Government's electronic system: the proviso to section 113(2).

What does registration give him? Eligibility to avail the benefit of the concerned scheme framed under Chapter IX: section 113(3).

Which benefits could a scheme for him cover? Life and disability cover, accident insurance, health and maternity benefits, old age protection, a creche, and any other benefit the Central Government determines: section 114(1).

He cannot work out how to register. The appropriate Government may have set up a toll free call centre, helpline or facilitation centre under section 112, whose functions include assisting him to obtain registration and facilitating his enrolment in schemes.

When does QuickRide start paying? On the date notified by the Central Government under section 114(5).

What this does NOT mean

A gig worker is not an employee. He is defined by being outside the traditional employer-employee relationship. Nothing in Chapter IX makes him one, and Chapters III to VII do not apply to him as a gig worker.

Not every gig worker is a platform worker. Platform work requires an online platform: section 2(60).

The aggregator contribution is not two per cent of turnover. It is between one and two per cent as notified, and capped at five per cent of what the aggregator pays gig and platform workers, whichever produces the lower figure.

Not every aggregator contributes. Section 114(4) reaches those in a category specified in the Seventh Schedule, and section 114(7)(ii) allows exemption of an aggregator or class by notification.

Registration is not automatic. Section 113(1) requires the age condition and a self-declaration, and section 113(3) makes the benefit depend on being registered.

Limits and criticism

The scheme still has to be framed. Section 114(1) says the Central Government "may frame and notify", and section 114(5) leaves the commencement of the aggregator contribution to be notified. Until both happen, a registered gig worker has a status and no benefit. This is the honest criticism and it should be made.

The definitions are negative. Section 2(35) tells you what a gig worker is not, namely in a traditional employer-employee relationship. That leaves the boundary between a genuine gig worker and a misclassified employee entirely to be litigated, and the Code gives no test for it.

The two caps can pull far apart. As the worked example shows, an aggregator with a large turnover and a small gig payroll pays much less than its size suggests, because the proviso is the operative limit.

Aggregators sit on the Board that designs their obligations. Section 114(6) gives them five of the substituted members, equal to the workers' five, which is a fair point either way in an essay.

Nothing addresses the terms of the work itself. Rates, deactivation and hours are outside the Code, which deals only with social security.

Quick revision

• Definitions: gig worker 2(35), works outside the traditional employer-employee relationship; platform work 2(60), through an online platform; platform worker 2(61); aggregator 2(2), a digital intermediary or marketplace. Every platform worker is a gig worker, not the reverse.
• Section 112: the appropriate Government may set up a toll free call centre, helpline or facilitation centres to disseminate information, facilitate and assist registration, and facilitate enrolment.
• Section 113: sixteen years or the prescribed age, plus a self-declaration; application with documents including Aadhaar; a distinguishable number; self registration must be available electronically; registration makes him eligible for the scheme; Government contributes as the scheme specifies.
• Section 114(1), six subjects: life and disability cover, accident insurance, health and maternity benefits, old age protection, creche, and any other benefit. Adds accident insurance and creche and drops education compared with section 109(1).
• Section 114(3): funding wholly Central, Central and State, wholly by aggregators, mixed with beneficiary or aggregator contributions, corporate social responsibility fund, or any other source.
• Section 114(4): between one and two per cent of annual turnover of an aggregator in a Seventh Schedule category, capped by the proviso at five per cent of the amount paid or payable to gig and platform workers; turnover excludes tax, levy and cess payable to the Central Government.
• Section 114(5): commencement of the contribution is notified. Section 114(6): the National Social Security Board serves as the Board, with five aggregator and five worker representatives substituted.
• Section 114(7): collection authority, interest on delay, self-assessment by aggregators, cessation conditions, and power to exempt; an aggregator with more than one business is a separate aggregator for each.

Test yourself

1. Distinguish a gig worker, a platform worker and an aggregator. A gig worker, section 2(35), performs work or participates in a work arrangement and earns from it outside a traditional employer-employee relationship. A platform worker, section 2(61), is a person engaged in platform work, which under section 2(60) is such an arrangement in which an online platform is used to access others to solve specific problems or provide specific services for payment. An aggregator, section 2(2), is the digital intermediary or marketplace connecting the user of a service with the provider.

2. At what age may a gig worker be registered, and how does that compare with a building worker? Sixteen years, or such age as the Central Government prescribes: section 113(1)(a). A building worker must have completed eighteen years to be registered as a beneficiary under section 106.

3. What must a worker produce to register under section 113? A self-declaration, electronically or otherwise, in the prescribed form and manner containing the prescribed information, and an application in the prescribed form with the prescribed documents including his Aadhaar number. No employer's certificate is required.

4. An aggregator has an annual turnover of 200 crore rupees, excluding central taxes, and pays 10 crore rupees to its gig workers. At a notified rate of two per cent, what does it contribute? Two per cent of 200 crore is 4 crore rupees. But the proviso to section 114(4) caps the contribution at five per cent of the amount paid or payable to gig and platform workers, that is 50 lakh rupees. The contribution is 50 lakh rupees, the lower of the two.

5. Name the six subjects on which a scheme may be framed for gig and platform workers, and say how the list differs from that for unorganised workers. Life and disability cover, accident insurance, health and maternity benefits, old age protection, creche, and any other benefit determined by the Central Government: section 114(1). Compared with section 109(1) it adds accident insurance and creche and omits education.

6. Which Board looks after gig and platform workers, and how is it composed for that purpose? The National Social Security Board constituted under section 6(1). By the proviso to section 114(6), the members in section 6(2)(c) and (d) are replaced by five representatives of aggregators, five of gig and platform workers, the Director General of the Corporation, the Central Provident Fund Commissioner, expert members, five State Government representatives by rotation, and a Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Labour and Employment as Member Secretary.

7. A registered gig worker asks what he is entitled to today. What is the honest answer? That the Code defines him, requires his registration and empowers the Central Government to frame schemes on six subjects funded in part by aggregator contributions, but that the benefit itself comes from a scheme framed under section 114(1), and the aggregator contribution begins only on a date notified under section 114(5). Until then he has a status under the Code rather than a benefit he can claim.