The Karnataka government will hold another interaction of gig workers with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi before tabling the Bill to regulate the social security and welfare of platform-based gig workers in the state.
In a Cabinet meeting held last Friday, the government decided to defer The Karnataka Platform based Gig Workers (Social Security and Welfare) Bill, 2024, which was expected to be tabled in the ongoing session of the Assembly. “We are planning to hold an interactive session with gig workers employed by various companies with Gandhi in the coming months. After this, we will table it in the Legislative Assembly,” a source in the Labour Department told The Indian Express.
The proposed legislation, according to the source, was the “brainchild of Gandhi”. “So, we thought it would be appropriate if he talks to all stakeholders so that the legislation covers all concerns,” said the source, noting that the Congress leader had met several gig workers to understand their concerns before the Karnataka Assembly elections 2023.
Sources said the concerns raised by the Commerce and Industries Department over the issue, due to which the Cabinet deferred the Bill twice, were addressed, adding that it was only a matter of time before it was tabled. The Bill is now likely to be tabled in the Budget Session of the Karnataka Assembly in March 2025.
Gig workers employed by 12 major companies, including Amazon, Flipkart, Zomato, Swiggy, Ola, Uber, and Dunzo, will receive social security benefits once the Bill is enacted. A small amount — based on the distance travelled by the gig worker for delivering goods or to provide services — will go to the Welfare Fund which will be set up under the Act. The amount will be used to provide health insurance, loans for gig workers and other amenities based on the amount collected in the common pool, the source added.
Several concerns were raised by aggregators and related tech companies when the Labour Department, which is piloting the Bill, opened it up for public consultation. This included data privacy concerns, queries on contributions by companies for the welfare of gig workers and broadening the definition of gig workers.
Apprehensions of data privacy by companies were about the Central Transaction Information Management System (CTIMS), which will map all payments made to gig workers to ensure that the welfare fee is deducted, and about the creation of a database of all gig workers onboarded by the companies. Both databases will be under the Gig Workers Welfare Board set up under the Act.
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