Rajasthan passes Bill extending social security to gig workers sans debate

• Recently, the Rajasthan Assembly passed a Bill extending social security to gig workers but without any debate.

The Rajasthan Platform Based Gig Workers (Registration and Welfare) Bill

• It extends various “rights” to gig workers, such as
  • Having access to general and specific social security schemes
  • Having an opportunity to be heard for any grievances, among others.
• Setting up of a Platform Based Gig Workers Welfare Board.
  • The Board will have two representatives each from among gig workers and from aggregators, to be nominated by the state government
  • The Board will also have bureaucrats
• It seeks to register all gig workers and aggregators in the state
  • The state government will maintain a database of the gig workers and generate a unique ID for every one of them.
• A social security and welfare fund under “Platform Based Gig Workers Fund and Welfare Fee” will be established for gig workers.
• A fee will be levied on aggregators, “which shall be at such rate (percent) of the value of each transaction related to a platform-based gig worker, as may be notified by the state government.”
  • Failure: Penalised with an interest of 12 percent per annum from the date on which such payment is due.
  • If any other clauses of the Act are violated by the aggregators, the Bill empowers the state government to impose a fine up to Rs 5 lakh for the first contravention and up to Rs 50 lakh for subsequent contraventions.

Gig Economy

• A Gig economy is a free market system in which temporary positions are common and organisations contract with independent workers for short-term engagements.
• According to the Code on Social Security, 2020, a gig worker is a person who performs work or participates in work arrangements and earns from such activities, outside of the traditional employer-employee relationship.
• Gig workers can be broadly classified into
  • Platform workers: These workers are those whose work is based on online software apps or digital platforms such as food aggregator platforms Zomato, Swiggy, Ola, and others.
  • Non-platform workers: These workers are generally casual wage and own-account workers in conventional sectors engaged part-time or full-time.

Prelims Takeaway

• Gig Economy
• Social Security Schemes