'Endure Long Hours, Extreme Weather, Harassment': Gig Workers Seek Urgent Reform

(The working conditions of gig workers is a key focus area in The Quint's reportage. Help us to continue keeping app-based platforms accountable by supporting our journalism)

“I was on my way to deliver an order, when my bike skidded, amid heavy rainfall. As I fell, I completely blacked out; scraped my elbows and knees. I had to pay a penalty equal to the value of the order for not being able to deliver it,” said Sarvesh Kumar. 

The 30-year-old works as a delivery person for food and grocery delivery platforms in Delhi. Excessive waterlogging had jammed the brakes of his motorbike, which led to it skidding. However, he was expected to keep going like nothing happened.  

No protection from climate adversities (including unseasonal rainfall, blistering heat and cold wave); working a minimum of 12 hours a day; no paid leaves (even on the weekend or on festivals); no access to toilets; no health insurance or hospitalisation cover; dealing with dog bites, violent customers and classism – this is what a regular working day looks like for a gig worker in India.

A gig worker is an independent worker, who earns his/her livelihood outside the traditional employer-employee arrangement. They are a part of gig economy, a labour market characterised by short-term, project-based jobs rather than the traditional full-time employment. 

Online app-based platforms — such as Uber, Ola Cabs, Rapido Bike Taxi, Swiggy, Zomato, Blinkit, Dunzo, Big Basket, UrbanCompany, etc. — which provide essential services at the doorstep, often swiftly, hire gig workers in the form of taxi drivers, delivery persons and other professionals. E-commerce giants such as Amazon and Flipkart also depend on gig workers for their last-mile deliveries.  

According to a 2022 report, prepared by NITI Aayog, there were at least 77 lakh workers engaged in India’s gig economy in 2020-21 — a number which is likely to expand to 2.35 crore gig workers in 2029-2030. “Yet, in the absence of any regulation, gig and platform workers face undeniable exploitation,” said Harish Gautam, a Committee Member of the App Workers Union. 

The Quint speaks to gig and platform workers on “exploitative practices” of certain app-based platforms, unfair compensation and the urgent need for a law to formalise the sector.

Heat Attack: Sickness Leads to Loss of Pay

“In May, one afternoon the heat was so bad that I collapsed. A few passersby took me to a small eatery and revived me. I was advised to rest at home for two days and couldn’t drive. I lost two days of pay due to this,” lamented Santosh Kumar, a 40-year-old Uber driver in Hyderabad, Telangana.  

Gig economy works on the core principle: ‘the more you work, the more you get paid.’ This implies that on days that one is unable to provide his/her services, due to (say) ill health, the gig worker loses his/her day’s pay.  

Santosh added that ailments due to extreme heat are increasing with no respite in sight. “In May and June, the heat is unbearable. Blood pressure becomes too low, eyes get red. Too much sweating happens, causing skin infections and allergies,” he said. Santosh has no choice but to drive for 12 to 16 hours daily in order to sustain his family of four.  

Mukhtar Alam, Programme Director at Delhi-based not-for-profit society Janpahal, recalled Kerala government’s recent move to establish rest centres for gig workers in Thiruvananthapuram. It will be the third state after Rajasthan and Karnataka to draft a bill, proposing regulations for the gig sector.  

“State governments and municipal corporations should build rest stops and 'pyaus' (covered spaces with provision of free potable water, usually in covered pots or 'matkas') in every pin-code for climate response, keeping in mind the hyper-local nature of gig economy. Rest stops should be mainstreamed by having budgetary allocations in public infrastructure for urban areas.”

Mukhtar Alam, Programme Director, Janpahal

Bike Skidded Due to Waterlogging; Deliveryman Pays Fine

While extreme heat takes a toll on delivery persons and cab drivers, rainfall isn’t kind to them either. Waterlogging, combined with potholes, often leads to two-wheelers skidding and riders, like Sarvesh, getting hurt.  

“When I called the call centre executive to tell them that I’ve had an accident, they asked me to go to the hospital. But I still had to pay Rs 500 as penalty for not delivering the order,” Sarvesh said. He added that he works at least 12-14 hours daily to be able to earn Rs 800 to Rs 1,000 per day.  

Both Santosh and Sarvesh told The Quint that the app-based platforms do not provide them with any health cover which takes care of hospitalisation charges in case of accidents on duty. The Quint has reached out to Uber and will update the story once they respond.  

Nirmal Gorana Agni, Director at Mehnatkash Association and a member of Gig Workers and Platform Service Workers Union (GIPSWU), said that workers are now increasingly demanding benefits under Employees State Insurance (ESI) scheme. Under the scheme, the employer contributes 4.75% while the employee gives 1.75% of his/her wages towards a fund, which can be used in case of exigencies such as sickness, maternity, disablement, and medical care.  

But of course, the first step to avail ESI benefits would be to get delivery persons and cab drivers registered as workers.  

“The definition of gig workers needs to be synchronised with on-ground realities. It’s no longer a gig, like the initial concept, where a worker takes up a project to earn extra money on the side. Cab drivers and delivery persons work 12-16 hours a day, making it their primary job,” Alam argued.

He pressed the need for gig workers to be registered as employees for them to avail social security benefits. 

'Customers Think We're Dirty, Don't Take the Same Elevators as Us'

As if a road accident wasn’t enough, last month, Sarvesh was bitten by a stray dog while delivering an order at Krishna Nagar in Delhi. He claimed that he lodged a complaint with the police and even alerted his superiors, but to no avail.  

“Riders or their well-being are not the priority for the company,” Sarvesh mourned.  

He mentioned how several buildings have separate “service lifts” for gig workers. Some even forbid them from using elevators and ask them to take the stairs instead.

“Log humein kharaab samajhte hain isiliye same lift mein nahi travel karte (People think we are dirty, that’s why they don’t want to travel with us in the same elevator),” Sarvesh deplored. A graduate, Sarvesh has been working since he was 15 and is the sole breadwinner for his family of four – including his ailing mother and two sisters.    

Nisha, a beautician working with UrbanCompany in Mumbai, recalled the time when the Covid-19 pandemic was at its peak.  

“Clients used to spray us with sanitizers from head to toe despite our body temperature and vaccination status clearly displayed on the app. But we were not privy to this information about the client. Does the disease spread only from us to them? Do we not have families back home?” Nisha asked. 

She recalled instances where UrbanCompany — which provides beauty and grooming services at home, among other services — immediately terminated beauticians after they flagged unruly customers.

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'No Protection from Harassment; Feel Like Bonded Labourers'

Anjali Singh, 41, was put in a hapless situation in Delhi on 26 May, when a client allegedly refused to pay her despite taking all the services.  

“When I asked for my dues, she started verbally abusing me and called her husband and house help to threaten me. Scared, I left their house without taking the money owed to me,” Anjali alleged to The Quint.  

She claimed that the standard operating procedure is to generate a ticket with UrbanCompany officials, who call back to check in. It is noteworthy here that the workers have no way of directly calling company executives in case of a crisis.

“In that moment, I had to save myself first. I didn’t have the time to first generate a ticket and then wait for a call-back,” Anjali remarked. However, she claimed that she generated the ticket after she reached her home that evening, only to receive a call back the next day. 

“I described the incident to them. I had even recorded a video as proof. But, instead of acting against the client, UrbanCompany blocked my ID, i.e. I was terminated immediately, without any explanation,” Anjali alleged.  

The only earning member of a family of four — including her two children — Anjali has been out of work since May. Her husband had lost his job during the Covid-19 pandemic.  

“Leave alone severance pay, we don’t even get an experience letter which could help us with a job elsewhere,” lamented Nisha, who has worked as a beautician for UrbanCompany for over five years. A member of GIPSWU, she claimed that the platform comes up with “arbitrary rules” and blocks the workers’ ID even for the smallest violations.

'Arbitrary Rules, Unethical Practices at UrbanCompany'

"We feel like bonded labourers," Nisha rued. UrbanCompany beauticians that The Quint spoke to, claimed that they: 

• Aren’t allowed to take a leave on weekends or festivals

• Have to respond to bookings promptly

• Have to use the company’s products, the pricing of which is completely controlled by UrbanCompany

• Get only a tiny share of cancellation charges in case a client cancels the booking

• Have no maternity benefits or health coverage for gynaecological problems, including menstrual disorders, pregnancy or abortion

• Worry about data privacy issues since their phone is constantly tracked

• Are terminated immediately and their ID is permanently blocked when they reach out to the company for grievance redressal. 

“They keep on increasing the MRP of their cosmetics, but we must buy from them and scan each product’s barcode before providing service to our client. Ek rupiye ke cotton pad ki wajah se naukri chali jaati hai (We risk losing our jobs if we don’t scan a Re 1 cotton pad),” said Dolly, a beautician from Mumbai.

Dolly, 39, was accused of “working on offline bookings” or sought work outside the platform when her ID was blocked permanently in April this year. This is peculiar, considering gig workers, by definition, are free to pick their work.

A single mother, Dolly had been working with the UrbanCompany for five years, unwittingly abrading her wrists in the process. With no job, no experience letter, no retirement fund, she has few choices before her. 

The Quint reached out to UrbanCompany with a detailed questionnaire and will update this story once they respond.

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Gig Workers Demand Minimum Wages, Health Insurance, Social Security

“These are serious violations of labour codes. The State must come up very strongly in support of gig workers by forming regulations. It must define fair HR practices to keep a check on app-based platforms, which are currently exploitative, non-responsive and unaccountable,” Alam remarked.

Working as an Uber driver for eight years now, Santosh worries about what he’ll do if his health gives up on him.  

“Who will give me a job at 40? And what will I get after so many years of service? There’s no pension, no retirement fund?” 

Gig workers across the board are now demanding a minimum monthly wage of Rs 25,000, paid leaves, benefits under ESI scheme, and a pension or retirement fund such as Provident Fund.  

Shaik Salauddin founder President Telangana Gig and Platform Workers Union (TGPWU) told The Quint, that "implementation of a law for all gig and platform workers," is a priority.

"Other demands include creation of a Welfare Board, which provides social security benefits such as ESI, PF, and maternity benefits, and ensuring fare wages," said Salauddin, who is also the co-founder, of the Indian Federation of App-based Transport Workers (IFAT).

A report by Boston Consulting Group and Michael & Susan Dell Foundation indicated that in the next 8-10 years, the gig sector could create 9 crore jobs, with transactions amounting to 1.25 percent of India’s GDP. 

“The influx of workers in the informal economy also points to a worrying trend—the lack of employment opportunities in the formal economy,” Gautam told The Quint.

Need Safeguards for Women Gig Workers

An excess of workers over demand of work would lead to a) high attrition rate for app-based platforms or b) low income for existing workers; the effect being more pronounced for gig workers as their earnings are directly proportional to the number of orders or bookings.  

Gautam also pointed out to the low participation of women in the gig economy, apart from UrbanCompany, and attributed it to the absence of safeguards for women. 

“Once I wrote my number in a building’s entry book while on my way to provide a service. Later, the guard got my number and started calling me at odd hours and passing lewd comments. I had to change my number,” Dolly claimed. 

Gautam said that acts such as Prevention of Sexual Harassment at Workplace Act, 2013 and Equal Remuneration Act, 1976 should be applicable for women workers in the gig economy.