About NITI Aayog’s report on Gig and Platform workers: Platform economy

News: NITI Aayog has recently released a new policy brief titled “India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy.”

What is “India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy” Report?

What are the challenges associated with the NITI Aayog report?

Issues with compensation and protections in work: This is particularly for those dependent on large and well-financed platforms. If the size of the workforce expands as projected as such issues will only increase. The report does not stressed these issues.

Not easy to transform gig work into formal work: The report asked the contractors and workers in the gig economy to transfer to the employer/employee roles in the formal sector. But straitjacket fitting of gig workers to employer/employee roles designed for the formal sector will not be a good idea.

Not easy to provide social security to gig workers: According to the recent data from the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), more than half the salaried employees covered by the survey do not have any kind of security.

Considering this situation, mandating social security for those in the gig and platform economy is not feasible.

What should be done to improve India’s gig economy?

Firstly, Given the rapidly changing nature of the gig employment landscape, the issues associated with the gig and platform workers need more debate and discussion to discover a consensus.

Secondly, the impact on growth-creating platforms and gig contractors should also be closely scrutinised before new mandates or entitlements are implemented.

Thirdly, the government ensure that social security benefits are available to salaried employees first, as has long been the mandate, before extending it further.

Source: The post is based on the article “Platform economy” published in “Business Standard” on 1^st July 2022.