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New Delhi: Gig workers need to be engaged for at least 90 days in a year with a particular aggregator to avail benefits under the new Social Security Code formulated by the government. The government has just released the draft rules for public comments and scrutiny and this proposal has been put in it. If a worker is engaged with a number of aggregators, the threshold has been capped at 120 days.
According to the draft rules, any worker will be considered as engaged from the day he starts earning an income, regardless of the money they earn. If some worker is engaged with multiple platforms, then the number of days of their employment with each of them would be added together to calculate their employed days. So if a gig worker is engaged by 3 platforms on a particular day, this will be considered 3 working days for the individual.
It must be noted that these rules will apply to all gig workers, engaged by a particular company. It does not matter if the particular delivery executive is engaged directly by the company, or through a third party. They will still be considered eligible for the social security benefits.
The new labour codes make it compulsory for the company which engages gig workers to provide them with health insurance, life and personal accident insurance and several other benefits, which the government has proposed in this draft rule. The Labour Ministry has also started the registration of gig workers on the 'e-Shram' portal and will be part of Ayushman Bharat scheme.
They may also get pensions later, based upon the contribution made by both the gig worker and the platforms they work for, according to the draft rules put out by the government.
The draft rules also said that all gig workers above 16 years must have an Aadhar-linked registration. The registration details of these workers must be shared on the government portal by the aggregators which employ them. Through this the workers will get a Universal Account Number (UAN). Every registered worker will also be issued an identity card which may be either digital or physical.
The government also proposed to set up a National Social Security Board. This body will assess the number of gig workers, identify new aggregators and also help formulate policies for the welfare of the workers. There will be 5 members in the association, which are to be nominated by the government. These will be representatives of the associations of unorganised sectors and also the aggregators representative.
Gig workers will not be eligible for social security schemes once they turn 60 or fail to work with a single aggregator for 90 days or multiple aggregators for 120 days in a particular financial year.
