India’s gig workers finally have a welfare board, but only Karnataka is walking the talk
The state’s new framework mandates compulsory worker and platform registration, platform data disclosure, and 1–1.5% welfare levies on each payout—a regulatory shift that could fundamentally reshape how gig work is governed.
On Tuesday, the Karnataka government issued a notification constituting the country’s first Karnataka Platform-Based Gig Workers Welfare Development Board under the Karnataka Platform-Based Gig Workers (Social Security and Welfare Development) Act, 2025.
With compulsory worker registration, mandatory platform data-sharing, and welfare levies of 1–1.5% on every payout, Karnataka becomes the first Indian state to create a formal welfare architecture for gig and platform workers—a move that quietly rewires how India’s platform economy will be governed from now on.
“This is a historic and inspiring moment for millions of gig and platform workers in India,” says Shaik Salauddin, Founder President of the Telangana Gig and Platform Workers’ Union (TGPWU) and Co-founder and National General Secretary of the Indian Federation of App-Based Transport Workers (IFAT).
He continues, “Karnataka has shown the way by institutionalising a welfare board that recognises gig workers as workers deserving dignity, rights, and social protection.”
He adds that the Karnataka model should serve as a strong precedent for other states and the Centre to establish similar welfare boards and enact comprehensive legislation ensuring social security, fair wages, occupational safety, and grievance redressal mechanisms for gig and platform workers.
What’s in it
Under the notification, the state's labour minister will serve as the ex officio chairperson of the board, with senior officials from the labour, information technology, and commercial taxes departments included as ex officio members. The board’s chief executive officer will function as the member secretary.
The framework places significant compliance obligations on platforms.
All aggregators must electronically submit a complete, machine-readable database of their gig workers on a secure digital portal designated by the board. They are also required to update the board quarterly on changes in workforce numbers, including new onboardings and separations during the reporting period.
In addition, platforms must formally register themselves on the board’s web portal, disclosing detailed corporate information, including their registered name, authorised signatory, address, email, PAN, GST, and CIN numbers.
“At the core of this model is compulsory registration. The Board maintains a centralised state register of gig and platform workers and issues a unique worker ID valid across platforms,” says Mayank Arora, a Delhi-based lawyer and Partner at Chambers of Bharat Chugh.
He explains, “This registration framework is foundational: without it, benefits cannot be accurately targeted, and welfare funds cannot be disbursed meaningfully. Also, no credible data-driven policy for the gig economy can exist without such foundational data.”
The notification also mandates the collection of a welfare fee. Aggregators are required to calculate and self-declare the welfare contribution every quarter and deposit the amount within 30 working days from the end of each quarter. The fee—to be timely notified by the government—will range between 1–1.5% of each payout made to a gig worker.
“Equally significant is the funding and delivery mechanism,” emphasises Arora. “The Board will control a dedicated Social Security and Welfare Fund, intended to finance insurance (accident, life, and health), pension or old-age security, maternity benefits, disability support, and other notified welfare measures.”
Adding, “Crucially, the law empowers the Board to collect a welfare fee from platforms, calculated as a percentage of payouts, commissions, or transactions—though the actual rate has yet to be notified, and how soon and the quantum of the fee will be crucial to the real success of this model.”
To ensure auditability and compliance, all payments to platform-based gig workers, along with the corresponding welfare fee deductions, must be recorded in a centralised Payment and Welfare Fee Verification System (PWFVS). Platforms are required to electronically upload transaction-level payout data in a machine-readable format every quarter, enabling the board to verify it.
All relies on implementation
For labour unions, the success of the welfare board will hinge entirely on execution.
Salauddin says the board must function in a transparent, participatory, and worker-centric manner, with meaningful representation of gig workers and their unions in decision-making.
“The real success of this board will lie in its effective implementation and its ability to improve the lives of workers on the ground. We look forward to learning from Karnataka’s experience and pushing for similar reforms in Telangana and across India,” he adds.
“The Karnataka Gig Workers Welfare Board departs fundamentally from the facilitative or voluntary initiatives seen so far, creating a statutory, state-run welfare architecture for the platform economy,” says Arora. “Whether this model delivers real protection to the gig workers will ultimately depend not merely on its existence, but on how seriously the funding obligation is imposed, how transparently funds are managed, and how efficiently the benefits genuinely reach workers on the ground.”
Edited by Suman Singh