TEXT & CONTEXT: WHAT DOES INDIA'S FIRST GIG WORKERS' RIGHTS BILL STIPULATE?
Current Affairs for 25th July, 2023
TEXT & CONTEXT: WHAT DOES INDIA'S FIRST GIG WORKERS' RIGHTS BILL STIPULATE?
The Rajasthan government passed the Rajasthan Platform Based Gig Workers (Registration and Welfare) Bill, 2023.
It proposed a Welfare Board comprising State officials, five representatives each from gig workers and aggregators, and two others from civil society.
An aggregator's duties under the bill include: depositing welfare cess on time, updating the database of gig workers, and documenting any variations in numbers within one month of such changes.
Under existing labour laws, gig workers who are named 'partners' by platforms are not 'employees' because theirs is not a "fixed term of employment"– marked by providing exclusive service to one provider for a specified duration. The new bill states any person has the right to be registered the minute they join an app-based platform, regardless of the duration.
The Welfare Board is expected to formulate schemes for social security listing accidental insurance and health insurance, and other benefits as may be prescribed.
Gig workers also have an opportunity to file their grievances under the Act and the employer can object to it within 90 days before an Appellate Authority.