Govt Calls On Platform Aggregators For Signing Up Their Gig Workers On e-Shram Portal

While pulling out all the stops to improve the social security of gig workers, the Ministry of Labour and Employment has now called on platform aggregators to register their workers on the e-Shram portal.

In a statement, the Centre said that it has also issued an advisory with a Standard Operating Procedure which outlines aggregator responsibilities, including registering workers and updating their data. 

Once registered, these platform workers will receive a Universal Account Number (UAN), which will allow them access to key social security benefits.

Incorporated in 2021, the e-Shram portal is a national database of unorganised workers, including migrant workers, construction workers, gig and platform workers. As of today, the portal has issued 30,10,05,750 eShram cards. 

Besides, the government also disclosed that it has been working with “few aggregators” and has completed testing for API integration and is advancing the registration process. “This joint effort aims to ensure full coverage of gig workers, with ongoing collaboration between the Ministry and platform aggregators,” it said. 

The development comes about two weeks after labour and employment minister Mansukh Mandaviya said that companies employing gig and platform workers will be asked to take the lead in registering their workers on the e-Shram portal soon.  

Mandaviya is scheduled to meet with platform aggregators tomorrow (September 18) to “sensitise and encourage them in this important initiative”. 

Driving the government focus on the working conditions of gig and platform workers are reports pointing out the bereft situation that a large chunk of such employees see. This sentiment is evident from a plethora of strikes and protests organised by such workers, who have also labelled work conditions to be  “horrific” and “work under slavery like situations” in the past. 

Besides the labour ministry push, the Ministry of Commerce also took cognisance of skewed working conditions of the gig workers as well as the impact of quick commerce models on kirana stores last week. The ministry  acknowledged a letter from the Forum for Progressive Gig Workers in India  flagging poor conditions of workers as well as repeated faulty deliveries due to a lack of quality checks on September 10.