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Working on the app-based model:
Context:
- The Delhi High Court is hearing the issue on August 10 in response to a Delhi-based union’s petition which refutes the claims of two online cab service providers — as not being employers of drivers but only providers of work.
Explanation:
- Drivers are put under control and supervision amounting to employment, but neither do they enjoy flexible work nor receive benefits.
- As informal sector workers who know how to maintain continuity in income, falling incentives have upset their calculations of spending, saving, and repaying debt.
- Thus, the High Court can create priority for the regulation of tech-based work for a large young population which needs work but is underskilled for the formal job market.
- Also, the sheer number of drivers who join these online platforms indicates the sizeable digital workforce being created. Identical platform ideas are being funded in different cities as separate entities, because investors find the digitisation of local services even at city level worthwhile.
Conclusion:
- It will be crucial to see whether the Delhi court judgment can create priority for the regulation of technology and work for workers without security nets.
- It will take a city court, immersed in the realities of its economy, its labour patterns, its experiences of vulnerability and security, to determine these questions.
