India’s gig economy:

Key things to know

‘A gig economy.is a labour market in which people engage in freelance jobs or short-term employment instead of permanent jobs.

Gig work in India is focused on theservice sector with opportunities

available in ride-hailing apps like Uberor Ola and food-delivery apps likeZomato and Swiggy.

In India, there were around 7.7 million gig workers in 2020-21 and the figure is expected to grow to 23.5 million by 2029-30.

Among these workers, about 47% work in medium-skilled jobs, about 22% in high-skilled and about 31% in low-skilled jobs.

The gig economy in support up to 90 million non-agricultural jobs amounting to over $250 billion, adding nearly 1.25% to the GDP.

central legislation for the labour rightsof these workers. Thus, gig workersoften lack traditional work benefitssuch as insurance and retirementPlans.

Although they are covered under acts like the Code on Social Security, 2020,Code on Wages, 2019, etc, formallegislative action is needed to protect the country’s gig workers.

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