Unrecognised and Vulnerable: Reviewing social protection instruments for platform workers
In this issue brief, Chetna V M and Chiara Furtado reflect on developments in social protection for platform workers in India, issues of exclusions and insufficient coverage for workers, and tensions between existing social protection instruments and the call for labour rights-affirming protections for platform workers.
Platform work is often touted by industry and the state as a form of aspirational employment and opportunity. However, behind this promise lies exploitative working conditions, safety concerns, high operational costs, and inadequate earnings. A key concern is the denial of employment protections, as platform companies are notorious for evading their responsibility by classifying platform workers as “partners” or “micro-entrepreneurs” rather than employees. There has been growing pressure from platform workers’ unions, workers’ collectives, and civil society in the past several years towards recognising and securing platform workers’ rights. This has resulted in steps taken by both governments and platform companies—although substantially limited—to extend social security benefits to platform workers. Currently, in India, social protection instruments available to platform workers are ad-hoc and fragmented across various government and platform initiatives.
This issue brief offers an overview of the various social protection instruments for platform workers designed by governments and platform companies. It highlights exclusions of platform workers in key social protection benefits, discusses challenges in accessing eligible social protections, reveals the insidious role of the design of social protection instruments in denying the legal employment recognition of platform workers. Finally, the brief foregrounds longstanding and unmet demands by platform workers and unions on critical social protections. The social protection instruments discussed in this brief include government responses including the Code on Social Security and the E-Shram portal, the Motor Vehicle Aggregator Guidelines, state-level legislation, as well platform-specific initiatives.
Read the full issue brief here
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