Fairwork, which evaluates the working situation of gig staff, assessed digital platforms on 5 rules — Fair Pay, Fair Conditions, Fair Contracts, Fair Management, and Fair Representation — with a fundamental level and a sophisticated level for every precept. Uber and Ola scored zero factors on a scale of 10 for the second 12 months in a row.
Among the highest performers this 12 months have been Urban Company, which topped the rankings chart with seven factors, Tata Group-owned BigBasket with six factors, e-commerce market Flipkart and food-delivery platform Swiggy with 5 factors every.
Swiggy’s publicly listed rival Zomato scored 4 factors, whereas fast commerce platform Zepto and supply logistics agency Porter obtained two and one factors, respectively.
On the Fair Pay precept, the report famous: “This year, BigBasket, Flipkart and Urban Company implemented and operationalised policies to ensure that all workers on these platforms earn at least the hourly local minimum wage after factoring in work-related costs”.
“We were unable to evidence any platform to meet the threshold of the second point, which requires the platform to commit or provide sufficient evidence that workers earn at least the local living wage after work-related costs,” it added.
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None of the 12 digital platforms surveyed for this report scored a single level on the Fair Representation parameter.
“It is disconcerting that despite the rise in platform worker collectivisation across the country, like last year, there was insufficient evidence from any platform to show willingness to recognise a collective body of workers. Consequently, we were unable to evidence any platform to meet the thresholds of this principle,” the report famous.
For the Fair Conditions precept, the survey awarded the essential level to 5 platforms — BigBasket, Flipkart, Swiggy, Urban Company and Zomato — for simplifying their insurance coverage claims course of and having operational emergency helplines on the platform interface.
However, it solely awarded the superior level to BigBasket, Swiggy and Urban Company for implementing a lack of pay coverage to offer staff with a monetary security internet throughout medical sicknesses.
On the Fair Contracts precept, seven out of 12 platforms surveyed have been awarded the primary level, and 5 platforms — Flipkart, Swiggy, Urban Company, Zepto and Zomato — have been awarded the superior level for modifying their contracts to cut back the asymmetry in liabilities, and including a clause for dispute decision between staff and platforms.
Similarly, for the Fair Management precept, whereas 5 corporations have been awarded the essential level for having a grievance redressal course of with the choice to attach with a human consultant, solely Urban Company met the factors for the second level for instituting common exterior audits to verify for biases in its work allocation programs.
“We are committed towards empowering our service partners to live respectful middle class lives, constantly improving their earnings & well being, and enabling them to delight our customers,” Abhiraj Singh Bhal, cofounder of Urban Company wrote in a tweet.
On the report’s findings on the Fair Representation precept, Urban Company mentioned that unions and related collectives have been “neither representative nor effective in addressing the needs and wants of all our partners” given the “vastness and hyperlocal nature” of the business.
“We have structured avenues (for example, in-person meetings, fixed weekly walk-ins) where partners can collectively raise their voice through different channels giving them a significant say in how operations or processes get defined,” Bhavya Sharma, director, communications and ESG advised ET.
Gig Economy
The findings of the report assume significance within the backdrop of rising gig employee participation within the Indian labour drive over the previous few years.
In a report titled India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy launched in June this 12 months, authorities think-tank Niti Aayog estimated that the gig workforce is predicted to develop to 2.35 crore staff by 2029-30, from 77 lakh in 2020-21.
It additionally identified that 47% of the gig staff have been engaged in medium expert jobs, whereas 22% have been in excessive expert and round 31% in low expert jobs.
As part of its suggestions, the Niti Aayog report steered extending social safety for gig and platform staff in India, together with measures for paid sick depart, well being entry and insurance coverage.
In the policymaking context, the definitions of a gig employee and a platform employee have been offered for within the Code on Social Security, 2020. Even although the code is but to return into drive, it envisages organising of a Social Security Fund.
One of the sources of the fund might be contributions from aggregator platforms to the tune of 1-2% of their annual turnover.