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Platforming precarity: Data narratives of workers sustaining urban platform services
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by
Aayush Rathi, Abhishek Sekharan, Ambika Tandon, Chetna V. M., Chiara Furtado, Nishkala Sekhar, and Sriharsha Devulapalli
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published
Oct 15, 2024
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filed under:
Labour Futures,
Digital Economy,
Homepage,
Digital Labour,
Featured,
Researchers at Work
CIS conducted quantitative surveys with over 800 workers employed in the app-based taxi and delivery sectors across 4 cities in India as part of the ‘Labour Futures’ project supported by the Internet Society Foundation. The surveys covered key employment indicators, including earnings and working hours, work-related cost burdens, income and social security, and platform policies and management. Findings from these surveys are presented as data visualisation briefs centring workers’ everyday experiences. These data briefs form a foundational evidence base for policy and action around labour rights, social protection, and urban inclusion in platform work.
Located in
RAW
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Gig and platform workers’ perspectives on worker collectives
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by
Shaik Salauddin
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published
Aug 13, 2024
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filed under:
Digital Labour,
Researchers at Work,
Labour Futures,
Digital Economy
This report highlights findings from a survey conducted by the Telangana Gig and Platform Workers’ Union on platform workers’ perspectives around various worker collectives, particularly platform worker unions and cooperative societies. The survey was conducted with workers working for app-based platform companies like Ola, Uber, InDriver, Swiggy, Zomato, and Flipkart.
Located in
RAW
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Karnataka’s uniform fare policy—Do attempts at parity consider the impact on workers?
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by
Chiara Furtado and Nishkala Sekhar
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published
Jul 08, 2024
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filed under:
Digital Labour,
Researchers at Work,
Labour Futures,
Digital Economy
Chiara Furtado and Nishkala Sekhar write in The News Minute about the Karnataka transport department’s February 2024 fare policy aiming for parity between aggregator (app-based) and other taxis. While policy interventions towards parity is a welcome step, the article highlights how inequalities and systemic barriers to parity remain for workers.
Located in
RAW
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‘Future of work’ or 21st–century oppressed labour?: Findings from an AIGWU survey with 50 Urban Company housekeeping workers in Bengaluru
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by
Nihira Ram
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published
May 16, 2024
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filed under:
Labour Futures,
Digital Economy,
Gig Work,
Digital Labour,
Researchers at Work
n this essay, Nihira Ram shares findings from a survey done by the All India Gig Workers Union with more than 50 migrant workers living in a slum in Bengaluru. The workers primarily provided cleaning and domestic services on the platform, Urban Company (previously UrbanClap).
Located in
RAW
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That Is Not A Livelihood – That Is Helplessness”: Field notes from the Fraazo Delivery Workers Strike in Noida, Greater Noida, and Ghaziabad
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by
Rikta Krishnaswamy
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published
Apr 24, 2024
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filed under:
Labour Futures,
Digital Economy,
Gig Work,
Digital Labour,
Researchers at Work
In this essay, Rikta Krishnaswamy of the All India Gig Workers’ Union (AIGWU) narrates her experiences of organising and supporting delivery workers’ collective action against Fraazo (a now-defunct platform for produce and grocery delivery). Her essay sheds light on the challenges workers face in organising for better conditions of work. She describes how platforms hide behind legal smokescreens and threats of police action to shirk their responsibility as employers. To make matters worse, obscure employment terms and work management systems make it harder for workers to seek redress from the government through labour dispute resolution processes.
The essay is illustrative of how digital platforms have exploited and violated freedoms of the gig workers they employ, while facing no accountability. For this to change, gig workers have to be guaranteed employment rights along with collective rights to their data.
Located in
RAW
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The Platform Economy’s Gatekeeping of Class and Caste Dominance in Urban India
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by
Ambika Tandon and Aayush Rathi
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published
Apr 18, 2024
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last modified
Apr 19, 2024 03:11 AM
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filed under:
Labour Futures,
Digital Economy,
Homepage,
Digital Labour,
Featured,
Researchers at Work
Ambika Tandon and Aayush Rathi contributed an essay on how gated society management apps like MyGate and NoBrokerHood feed on caste and income inequalities in new datafied forms. The essay features in The Formalization of Social Precarities, an anthology edited by Murali Shanmugavelan and Aiha Nguyen and published with Data & Society.
Located in
RAW
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Workers’ experiences in app-based taxi and delivery sectors: Key initial findings from multi-city quantitative surveys
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by
Aayush Rathi, Abhishek Sekharan, Ambika Tandon, Chetna V. M., Chiara Furtado, and Nishkala Sekhar
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published
Feb 15, 2024
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last modified
Feb 16, 2024 01:27 AM
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filed under:
Gig Work,
Digital Labour,
Researchers at Work,
Labour Futures
In 2021-22, the labour research vertical at CIS conducted quantitative surveys with over 1,000 taxi and delivery workers employed in the app-based and offline sectors. The surveys covered key employment indicators, including earnings and working hours, initial investments and work-related cost burdens, income and social security, platform policies and management, and employment arrangements. The surveys were part of the ‘Labour Futures’ project supported by the Internet Society Foundation.
Located in
RAW
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Your economy, our livelihoods: A policy brief by the All India Gig Workers’ Union
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by
W.C. Shukla, Rikta Krishnaswamy, Rohin Garg, Gunjan Jena, and S.B. Natarajan
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published
Jan 30, 2024
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last modified
Jan 31, 2024 12:02 AM
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filed under:
Labour Futures,
Digital Economy,
Gig Work,
Digital Labour,
Reserve Bank of India,
Featured,
Homepage
In this policy brief, the All India Gig Workers’ Union (AIGWU) presents its critique on NITI Aayog’s report on India’s platform economy. Through experiences from over 3 years of organising gig workers across India, they highlight fallacies in the report that disregard workers’ experiences and realities. They present alternative recommendations that are responsive to these realities, and offer pathways towards rights-affirming futures for workers in the platform economy.
Located in
RAW
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IFAT and ITF - Protecting Workers in the Digital Platform Economy: Investigating Ola and Uber Drivers’ Occupational Health and Safety
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by
Indian Federation of App-based Transport Workers (IFAT) and International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), New Delhi office
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published
Jun 25, 2021
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last modified
Jun 29, 2021 06:53 AM
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filed under:
Digital Economy,
Researchers at Work,
Digital Labour,
Covid19,
Research,
Platform-Work,
Featured,
Homepage
Between July to November 2019, Indian Federation of App-based Transport Workers (IFAT) and International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), New Delhi office, conducted 2,128 surveys across 6 major cities: Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi NCR, Hyderabad, Jaipur, and Lucknow, to determine the occupational health and safety of app-based transport workers. CIS is proud to publish the study report and the press release. Akash Sheshadri, Ambika Tandon, and Aayush Rathi of CIS supported post-production of this report.
Located in
RAW
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Labour futures: Intersectional responses to southern digital platform economies
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by
Aayush Rathi and Ambika Tandon
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published
Dec 31, 2020
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last modified
Jan 27, 2021 08:43 AM
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filed under:
Digital Labour,
Labour Futures,
Digital Economy
It is our great pleasure to announce that we are undertaking a two-year research project to comprehensively analyse dominant and emerging sectors in India’s platform economies. The project is funded by a research grant of USD 200,000 from the Internet Society Foundation.
Located in
RAW
