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Gig Workers to Be Registered on e-Shram Portal for Social Security Benefits

• ByStartupStory     |    September 3, 2024

In a significant move to enhance the welfare of gig and platform workers, the Indian government will soon enable these workers to register on the e-Shram portal. The announcement was made by Union Labour & Employment Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Sunday, September 1, 2024.

Mandaviya revealed that aggregators—companies that employ gig and platform workers—will play a crucial role in the registration process. “An online window will be provided to aggregators to ensure a smooth and efficient registration process,” he stated. This development aims to integrate gig and platform workers into the social security net, similar to the benefits available to registered informal sector workers.

The e-Shram portal, launched by the Ministry of Labour & Employment, serves as a comprehensive National Database of Unorganised Workers (NDUW). It was created to streamline the delivery of welfare benefits and social security measures to workers in the unorganised sector. The portal facilitates the issuance of identity cards to these workers, allowing them to access various government schemes, benefits, and services more efficiently. Those registered on the e-Shram portal currently benefit from public life and accidental insurance, among other advantages.

The initiative aligns with the labour codes passed by Parliament in 2020, which included provisions for a social security scheme specifically for gig workers. This category encompasses freelancers, online platform workers, self-employed individuals, on-call workers, and creative tech talent, including rideshare drivers and food delivery couriers.

The Economic Survey 2023-24 projects that India’s gig workforce will expand to 23.5 million by 2029-30, a substantial increase from the estimated 7.7 million workers in 2020-21. This growth underscores the need for robust social security measures to support gig and platform workers, who represent a diverse and dynamic segment of the workforce.

In a related context, the Supreme Court emphasized on May 24, 2021, that governments must expedite the registration of unorganised, gig, and platform workers to ensure their inclusion in social security programmes. This ruling highlights the urgency of integrating these workers into the formal social security system.

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