The Karnataka government on Saturday released the draft of a bill that seeks to regulate the social security and welfare of platform-based gig workers in the state.

The Karnataka Platform Based Gig Workers (Social Security and Welfare) Bill, 2024, proposes to establish a welfare board and a grievance cell for workers in the state’s gig economy.

The bill is likely to be tabled in the Monsoon session of the state Assembly this month, The Indian Express reported.

The Congress in Karnataka had promised such a law ahead of the 2023 Assembly election. Rajasthan had passed a similar law in July last year, becoming the first state to do so.

Indian law defines a gig worker as a “person who performs work or participates in a work arrangement and earns from such activities outside of traditional employer-employee relationship”.

There is no government data on the exact number of gig workers in the country. However, in Karnataka’s Bengaluru alone, nearly two lakh gig workers are attached to various online platforms like Zomato, Porter, Swiggy and Dunzo, according to the The Indian Express.

On Saturday, the state labour department released the draft bill for public consultation before it is tabled in the legislature.

The objective of the proposed legislation is “to protect the rights of platform based gig workers, to place obligations on aggregators in relation to social security, occupational health and safety”.

It also aims to “bring transparency in automated monitoring and decision-making systems”, provide mechanisms for the resolution of disputes, establish a welfare board, a welfare fund, and a registration platform for both gig workers and aggregators in the state.

The welfare board envisaged in the bill would include the state labour minister, two representatives from the aggregator companies, two gig workers and a civil society member, among others.

The draft bill notes that gig workers would be able to register with the welfare board when they join a platform, adding that the workers would be given a unique ID that could be used across all platforms.

The gig workers would be able to “access general and specific social security schemes based on contributions made by them as may be notified by the State government”, the draft bill said. The workers would also be able access grievance redressal mechanisms, it noted.

The draft bill also called for the establishment of “The Karnataka Gig Worker’s Social Security and Welfare Fund”. This would be created primarily with contributions from aggregators, who would be expected to pay a percentage of the worker’s income or a percentage of their revenue towards the fund. The fund would also include financial contributions from the state government and the workers.

The draft legislation noted that the state government would be able to review the contracts of the workers and that it would “publish sector-specific guidelines for contracts from time to time”.

The draft bill adds: “The aggregator must provide and maintain, as far as is reasonably practicable, a working environment that is safe and without risk to the health of the platform based gig worker.”

Aggregators that violate the provisions of the proposed law would be penalised with fines starting at Rs 5,000 and going up to Rs 1 lakh.

Also read: How many gig workers does India have? Nobody knows and it’s helping companies duck responsibility