Did Budget 2025 Finally Fix India’s Gig Workers’ Woes?

In her eighth consecutive Budget speech, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a comprehensive social security scheme for gig workers.

To be helmed by the Ministry of Labour and Employment, the proposed initiative aims to benefit nearly 1 Cr gig workers across the country by providing them essential health insurance along with death and disability coverage. The scheme is slated for a likely rollout in the next financial year.

“Gig workers of online platforms provide great dynamism to the new-age services economy. Recognising their contribution, our government will arrange for their identity cards and registration on the e-Shram portal,” said the finance minister. 

Additionally, the government also announced the revamp of the PM SVANidhi Scheme, introducing higher loan limits and an INR 30,000 UPI-linked credit card. These measures aim to enhance financial inclusion and provide greater economic stability for urban India’s gig workers.

Aggregator Participation To Drive The Scheme

PM SVANidhi scheme is a special micro-credit facility under which the government offers affordable loans to street vendors. The revamped initiative is expected to facilitate easier access to credit, fostering self-sufficiency among this rapidly expanding workforce segment.

However, national general secretary of the Indian Federation of App-Based Transport Workers (IFAT), Shaik Salauddin, believes that for these schemes to be fully effective, aggregator companies, like Zomato, Swiggy, Zepto, Flipkart, Urban Company, among others, must share data on gig and platform workers with the government. 

He said that without mandatory data sharing on the e-Shram portal, many workers will be unable to access these benefits. Salauddin also urged the government to ensure strict implementation and accountability of the scheme, making it compulsory for all platform companies to register gig workers and contribute towards social security schemes.

“There is a need to ensure contributions by aggregator companies towards social security schemes for gig and platform workers,” he said. The lack of active data on the portal further complicates the implementation of the scheme, he added.

Meanwhile, Telangana Gig and Platform Workers’ Union (TGPWU) member Santosh Kumar rued the lack of a national law for gig workers. “Despite a five-year-long struggle, workers continue to await a comprehensive national law, a dedicated welfare board, and full implementation of these measures,” added Kumar.

Nevertheless, the new budget announcements are expected to cushion India’s gig workforce, and the revamped e-Shram portal is at the heart of this exercise. 

The Changes & Challenges 

Under the revamped scheme, the labour ministry plans to introduce a new module on the e-Shram portal, which will enable businesses and aggregators to register their workers on the platform. The ministry is also exploring options for issuing unique identification cards to gig workers and mandating aggregators to contribute transaction-based funds toward workers’ social security benefits, including health and pension coverage.

Launched in 2021, the e-Shram portal has undergone several revamps to enhance its inclusivity. The updated portal now integrates a range of schemes such as PM-SYM (pension), Ayushman Bharat (health insurance), PM-SVANidhi (support for street vendors), MGNREGA (rural employment guarantee), and more, all accessible through a single e-Shram account.

This eliminates the need to visit multiple government departments to apply for various schemes. The database is fully Aadhaar-seeded, ensuring accurate identification and preventing fraudulent claims. Migrant workers can also access benefits while working in different states, using the centralised database. 

“The budget further enhances the portal by facilitating the registration and issuance of identity cards for 1 Cr gig workers, making it even more valuable for them,” said compliance management software company Teamlease Regtech’s chief executive and cofounder Rishi Agrawal.

However, challenges persist. Agrawal believes that innovative approaches are required to accommodate the varied working hours and income levels of gig workers. Citing his rationale for this, he added that the dynamic nature of gig work, where individuals have the flexibility to choose their work hours and locations, poses a challenge in categorising them as employees under traditional social security schemes.

Additionally, since gig workers often operate across multiple platforms, coordinating data sharing between platforms, government agencies, and financial institutions to accurately track earnings and determine eligibility for benefits could complicate the implementation process of the scheme, added Agrawal.

Learning From Past Experiments

While social security for gig workers was a central aspect of the labour codes introduced a few years ago, many states are yet to implement them fully. Apart from Rajasthan, Karnataka and Telangana, not many states have made any headroom in this regard.

That said, the union government can learn from the experiences and challenges faced by these governments while implementing their respective schemes to streamline the central scheme. But, while it remains to be seen whether the benefits of the PM SVANidhi initiative percolate to the bottom of the pyramid, union leaders plan to keep guard to ensure implementation of the scheme. 

“While this announcement marks a significant milestone, the ongoing fight for comprehensive enforcement and nationwide implementation will continue,” said Salauddin.

Nevertheless, he believes that the scheme is expected to benefit workers across income slabs, taxpayer status, or class distinctions. He added that the integration of an algorithm to address grievances and giving the scheme legal teeth will ensure full implementation and further strengthen the impact of this initiative.