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Social Infrastructure, Employment and Human Development 347

drivers engaged in platforms like Uber/Ola, Swiggy, Big Basket, Pizza Hut etc, are now showing
potential as well. As a result, the gig economy have been popular amongst the workers in India.
The benefit of the gig economy is that it allows flexibility in employer-employee relationship to
both service seeker and service provider.

10.24 The nature of job contract for a gig worker is different from the contract between an
employer and employee/worker. Their labour contract is usually shorter and more specific to
the task or job assigned. Their employment type might be either temporary or contractual and
certainly not regular. The nature of payment against the work is more of piece rate, negotiable,
may be as wage or partly as profit/reward than a fixed salary. The control over their work by
employer varies in degree but in any case, is not full. The workers most of the time are flexible
to decide on when to work, where to work etc.

10.25 Till recently, gig or platform workers were devoid of their basic rights and social security
protections mainly because they were neither considered as worker nor employee under definition
of employee in the labour laws of the country and were not entitled to legal protections under
labour laws. For the first time, these class of workers have been brought under the ambit of the
newly introduced Code on Social Security 2020 by defining them exclusively in the category of
unorganized worker for providing social security benefits (Annexure II).

Impact of COVID-19 on the Labour Market

10.26 COVID-19 has exposed the vulnerability of urban casual workers, who account for
11.2 per cent of urban workforce (All-India) as per PLFS, January-March, 2020, a significant
proportion of them are supposed to be migrants who were impacted by the lockdown. About
63.19 lakh migrant workers travelled through Shramik Special trains from May-August 2020.
With limited data available on inter-state migration and employment in informal sectors,
it is difficult to figure the numbers of migrants who lost jobs and accommodation during
the pandemic and returned home. Government of India has taken several initiatives for the
welfare of workers during the pre-lockdown and lockdown period to mitigate the crisis
(Box 6).

Box 6: Programmes and schemes to improve employment opportunities

Aatmanirbhar Bharat Rojgar Yojana (ABRY): ABRY, a component of Aatmanirbhar Bharat 3.0
package announced in November, 2020 has total estimated outlay of ` 22,810 crore for the scheme
period i.e., up to wage month 31st May, 2023. The scheme proposes to pay:
(i) Entire employees’ and employers’ contribution (12 per cent of employees’ EPF and 12 per cent
of employers' EPF contribution or statutory rate applicable to establishment) i.e. 24 per cent
of wages towards EPF in respect of new employees in establishments employing up to 1000
employees (contributing EPF members with UAN) during the period from October, 2020 to June,
2021 and also to re-employee who lost their jobs due to COVID-19.
(ii) Only employees' share of EPF contribution (i.e. 12 per cent) of wages in respect of new employees
in establishments employing more than 1000 employee during the period from October 2020 to
June 2021, and also to re-employee who lost their jobs due to COVID-19.