Why Companies Continue To Fail Gig Workers

The Indian gig workforce is expected to grow to 23.5 million by 2029-30, from 7.7 million in 2020-21, according to a recent report by NITI Aayog. But unlike regular employees, gig workers do not enjoy work benefits like health insurance, paid time off, leaving them with no option but to resort to strikes to draw attention towards their plight.

- Akshit Pushkarna

In March, when I had a midnight craving, I ordered some food on Zomato. Having a generic banter with the rider, we joked about the rising petrol prices and how heavy it has become on the pocket. The rider said it is affecting him all the more due to reduction in incentives by his company. And another condition to log in for a set number of hours every day is further compounding his problem. He told me to keep track of the news. A few days later, the headline of a news piece read: 'Zomato delivery agents go on strike; accuse company of cutting down incentives'.

Three months on, the gig workers engaged with another startup, Fraazo, have initiated an indefinite strike. The Noida-based workers of the platform based business are up in arms against the company's decision to move from a daily wage system (INR 500 per day), to a per order system (INR 45 per order). The above two incidents are not the lone ones. In December 2021, "partners" of Urban Company were asked to pay a fee to the platform to get the leads. This led to over 300 women beauticians going on a sit-in protest in front of the company's Gurugram office. But six months down the line, the women have claimed that their accounts are being deactivated by their employers, leading to drying up of their leads and bookings. Entrepreneur India reached out to companies like Fraazo and Zomato to understand how they are planning to deal with this issue but didn't elicit any response from their end.

GIG ECONOMY: GOOD FOR BUSINESSES, BAD FOR WORKERS