Tamil Nadu State Planning Commission calls for legal protection and social security for gig workers

The Tamil Nadu State Planning Commission (SPC) has proposed policy measures to improve the livelihood, social security, and working conditions of gig workers in the State.

In its latest study, ‘Status of Platform Based Gig Workers in Tamil Nadu,’ it highlights the rapid expansion of platform-based work and calls for targeted interventions to ensure welfare, protection, and long-term sustainability for these workers.

“The Tamil Nadu government may introduce legal protections to enable workers to form unions for collective bargaining and representation. These unionised spaces can also serve to raise workers’ awareness of their rights. It may establish specially designed Social Security Funds and strategically utilise the existing resource allocations for welfare schemes, wherever applicable, to cover a wider range of benefits, including health insurance, maternity support, pensions, disability coverage, and accidental death benefits,” according to the report.

It has also recommended the creation of a task force to regularly review gig economy policies, collecting feedback from workers, platforms, and civil society organisations. Another area of importance is training. The government can collaborate with aggregators to offer subsidised training in areas such as digital literacy, financial management, and specific sector skills. “This initiative, inspired by Jharkhand’s model, can improve the capabilities of gig workers and bolster their economic resilience in a swiftly changing labour market,” it says.

The SPC has recommended mandatory registration of gig workers and platforms on the Tamil Nadu Platform Based Gig Workers Welfare Board’s online portal, connected to the e-Shram UID system. It has also said platforms with over 50 workers should be required to constitute internal dispute resolution committees, with an independent State-appointed ombudsman to handle unresolved grievances.

For the study, platforms such as Uber, Ola, Rapido, Zomato, Swiggy,  Blinkit, Zepto, Porter, Amazon Flex, and Urban Company were selected. Structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 255 platform workers across Chennai, Madurai, and Coimbatore using a structured questionnaire. Most respondents fall within the 18-28 and 29-38 age brackets, underscoring the fact that the younger workforce is increasingly taking up platform work. The findings show that platform workers prefer living with their friends. As for migration status, 98 respondents (38%) identified themselves as migrants, while 157 (62%) were non-migrants.

A gig workers lounge built by the Greater Chennai Corporation in Chennai.
| Photo Credit:
FILE PHOTO

The data indicate the vast majority of respondents — 177 out of 255 (approximately 69.4%) — earn between ₹400 and ₹1,000 a day, implying that gig work provides a modest, subsistence-level income for most. Only a small proportion of workers earn a higher income. For example, only 23 workers (9%) earn between ₹1,501 and ₹3,000 a day, and only 5 respondents (2%) earn ₹2,501 and more. Ola and Uber drivers appear most frequently in these higher income bands.

An important benefit of women’s participation in the gig economy is the flexible schedule it offers, allowing them to balance work with other responsibilities. This flexibility makes platform-based work appealing to many women, as it provides control over their timetables and the opportunity to earn income while attending to family duties. One participant said, “As female workers, we do not feel any threat or harassment in this job. We often receive compliments from the public. Compared with previous jobs, this work environment is more favourable, and we receive pay and recognition equal to those of men. In the past employment, we did not receive equal salaries or wages.”