On Christmas and New Year’s Eve, lakhs of gig workers across India logged off to press for social security benefits, better wages and, most importantly, legislation for stronger protection.
Only four states in India — Rajasthan, Karnataka, Bihar and Jharkhand — have laws on gig workers, while Telangana has similar legislation in the works. A look at where these laws stand and have they changed the lives of gig workers.
Rajasthan
On July 24, 2023, months before the Assembly polls in the state, Rajasthan passed the landmark Platform Based Gig Workers (Registration and Welfare) Act — the first dedicated state law extending social security benefits to gig workers.
Since then, however, the law has been in cold storage, with workers increasingly demanding its implementation.
Passed under the Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government, the law mandates registration of gig workers and provides for a designated welfare board, with one-third of its members to be women. It also levies a fee on aggregators for a welfare fund meant to provide, among other things, health insurance and accident coverage, and imposes penalties of up to Rs 5 lakh for a first offence and up to Rs 50 lakh for subsequent violations.
In November 2023, the Gehlot government was voted out. Gig worker unions have since been calling for the law’s implementation.
“When we heard about this law, we welcomed it as a good solution to the problems,” Sanjay Gaba, president of the All India Gig and Platform Workers, told The Indian Express, accusing the BJP government under Bhajan Lal Sharma of stalling.
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Amid the gig workers’ protests in December, Gehlot called on the Rajasthan government to implement the law and accused it of dragging its feet. “Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma is not keen on giving protection to the workers, and has shown no intention towards making rules and implementing this,” he said.
When contacted, Rajasthan’s Minister of Law and Legal Affairs Jogaram Patel said his government “will implement the law soon”, but refused to elaborate.
Bihar
The Bihar Platform Based Gig Workers (Registration, Social Security and Welfare) Bill, 2025 is a landmark legislation providing protections and benefits to gig workers in Bihar. Key provisions include mandatory registration of gig workers above 16 years using Aadhaar, and the issuance of a digital or physical identity card.
The Act provides for social security benefits, including provident fund, insurance, maternity benefits, accident insurance, and old-age protection. Other provisions include the establishment of a welfare fund and a grievance redressal committee, a minimum wage guarantee, and data protection.
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The Bill’s passage on July 23 last year came after over a year of mobilisation, protests, and negotiations led by Union Network International-affiliated unions. The struggle began in December 2023 with a model draft Bill submitted to the Labour Resources Minister, demanding legal recognition and social security.
A statewide strike followed in January 2024, gaining media attention. The agitation escalated with another mass strike in January 2025, hitting the services of Swiggy, Zomato, and Amazon in Patna.
Karnataka
The Karnataka Platform-Based Gig Workers (Social Security and Welfare) Act, 2025, which came into effect last May, provides a legal framework for the constitution of a welfare board.
The law, however, is awaiting notification of the Karnataka Gig Workers’ Welfare Board, which is expected within this week.
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The notification is also expected to clarify the extent of the welfare fee proposed by the state government, which will be pooled into the Karnataka Gig Workers’ Social Security and Welfare Fund.
According to sources, registration of gig workers will begin once the board is notified.
The Act requires the government to “specify through a notification [a] different percentage on the payout, with or without a cap on the Gig worker welfare fee on each transaction, for different categories of aggregator or platform”. While there were talks of the fee ranging from 1% to 5 %, the government is expected to fix it at 1–1.5%, with proceeds transferred to the fund.
Aggregators will have to transfer the welfare fee collected quarterly to the fund, which is proposed to be monitored by the Payment and Welfare Fee Verification System.
Jharkhand
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Like the other laws, the Jharkhand Platform-Based Gig Workers (Registration and Welfare) Act — passed by the state Assembly in August last year and given assent by the Governor on December 19 — provides for registration, social security benefits and grievance redressal for platform-based workers.
Hailed as one of the stronger laws, it provides for mandatory registration, minimum wages and social security benefits for gig workers, along with penalties of up to Rs 10 lakh on aggregators for violations. It also extends provisions of the Shramadhan portal — Jharkhand’s official labour welfare platform for unorganised and migrant workers — to gig workers, enabling access to accident compensation, insurance, pensions and other welfare schemes.
According to trade unions, the law is a significant step towards protecting gig worker rights, though they caution that its impact will depend on rollout.
Vishwajeet Deb, a Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) leader organising delivery workers and cab drivers in parts of the state, said government-led outreach would be key, given that most gig workers are outside any formal database.
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“The law cannot be implemented only through unions. The state government has to take responsibility for registering workers and ensuring they know their rights,” he said.
