Rajasthan on Monday became the first state in the country to pass a law to provide social security to gig workers.

Gig workers are those who work temporary jobs, typically in the service sector as an independent contractor or freelancer. Delivery partners for food aggregators such as Swiggy or Zomato are gig workers.

The Rajasthan Platform-Based Gig Workers (Registration and Welfare) Bill was passed in the state Assembly without debate. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot introduced the Bill during the Budget Session in February.

The Bill gives rights to platform-based gig workers to register themselves with the state government, have access to social security schemes and and be heard in case of any grievances among other things, according to The Indian Express.

The workers operating in the state will be automatically registered as soon as they “onboard” an aggregator platform, irrespective of the duration of their association with the platform. The state government will maintain a database of the gig workers and generate a unique identification for each one of them, according to the Bill.

The Bill envisages setting up a welfare board for gig workers, comprising state government officials and two representatives each from among the gig workers and aggregators. This board will be led by the state labour minister and will meet once in every six months.

It also proposes setting up a social security and welfare fund for the workers. The money for the fund will come from “welfare cess” which will be included in the bill that aggregators charge to the customers.

Penalties would be levied to the aggregators if they fail to pay the welfare fee within a stipulated time. In such cases, the aggregators will be penalised with an interest of 12% per annum from the date on which such payment is due, reported The Indian Express.

The Bill gives the state the power to impose a fine of up to Rs 5 lakh for the first violation of any of its clauses and up to Rs 50 lakh for repeated violations.

While tabling the Bill, the Rajasthan government had said that despite their major contribution to the economy, gig workers remain unorganised and are not covered under the labour laws.

“Like elsewhere in the world, the scope of ‘gig economy’ is continuously growing in the state,” Gehlot had said in February. “Today, the number of gig workers in the state has increased to 3-4 lakh. These big companies do not make any arrangements for social security for these gig workers.”