The Fairwork India Ratings 2024 report, which analyses the work conditions of platform workers on digital labour platforms in India, draws a picture of aggregators who are non-committal to ensuring that workers earn the local living wage and unwilling to recognise collectivisation of workers.

This year, no platform scored more than six out of the maximum 10 points, and none scored all the first points across the five principles — Fair Pay, Fair Conditions, Fair Contracts, Fair Management, and Fair Representation.

The report titled ‘Fairwork India Ratings 2024: Labour Standards in the Platform Economy’ is the sixth consecutive annual study of this nature conducted by the Fairwork India Team, spearheaded by the Centre for IT and Public Policy (CITAPP), International Institute of Information Technology, Bangalore (IIIT-B), in association with Oxford University.

Analysing welfare legislation

The 2024 report examines the changing nature of platform work as platforms increasingly take control of when and for how long workers can provide services, or gigs. It also discusses the potential impact of proposed legislation for platform workers in Karnataka and Jharkhand.

“This year witnessed gig workers’ welfare increasingly gain attention in political manifestos and legislative initiatives. But with the implementation of these efforts remaining uncertain, and platforms redefining gig work, research and advocacy to improve the conditions of gig workers are ever more relevant,” said Professors Balaji Parthasarathy and Janaki Srinivasan, the Principal Investigators of the team, along with researchers Mounika Neerukonda, Bilahari M, Raktima Kalita, Tony Mathew, Meghashree Balaraj and Aditya Singh.

Methodology of study

Fairwork assessed platforms against five principles: Fair Pay, Fair Conditions, Fair Contracts, Fair Management, and Fair Representation. Each principle is broken down into two points: a first point, and a second point that can only be awarded if the first point has been fulfilled. Every platform receives a score out of 10.

Worker interviews were conducted in Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Kochi, and Thiruvananthapuram.

The study evaluates 11 platforms offering location-based services in sectors such as domestic and personal care, logistics, food delivery, and transportation, in India. These include Amazon Flex, Bigbasket, BluSmart, Flipkart, Ola, Porter, Swiggy, Uber, Urban Company, Zepto and Zomato. 

Findings of study

Only Bigbasket and Urban Company, as per the study, were awarded the first point under Fair Pay for instituting a minimum wage policy that guaranteed all their workers earn at least the hourly local minimum wage after factoring in work-related costs.

No platform earned the second point under Fair Pay, which requires platforms to commit to and ensure a local living wage after work-related costs or provide sufficient evidence that all workers earn at least this amount. 

Amazon Flex, BigBasket, BluSmart, Swiggy, Urban Company, Zepto and Zomato were awarded the first point under Fair Conditions for providing adequate safety equipment and periodic safety training to workers on their platforms. Only BigBasket, Swiggy, Urban Company, Zepto and Zomato were awarded the second point for providing workers with accident insurance coverage at no additional cost, monetary compensation for income loss in cases they are unable to work due to medical reasons other than accidents, and for ensuring a worker’s standing is not negatively affected when they return after a break taken with prior notice to the platform. 

Representation of points awarded to aggregators by Fairwork India study | Photo Credit: Fairwork India

BigBasket, BluSmart, Swiggy, Urban Company, Zepto, and Zomato were awarded the first point for Fair Contracts for ensuring the accessibility and comprehensibility of their contracts, and for having protocols for the protection and management of worker data.

Amazon Flex, BigBasket, BluSmart, Flipkart, Swiggy, Urban Company and Zomato were awarded the first point for Fair Management for providing due process in decisions affecting workers and channels for workers to appeal disciplinary actions. There was sufficient evidence from BluSmart, Swiggy, Urban Company and Zomato that they have institutionalised regular external audits to check for biases in their work allocation systems and adopted policies against the discrimination of platform workers.  

According to Fairwork India, representation through a collective body or trade union is a vital dimension of fairness at work. It is disconcerting that despite the rise in platform worker collectivisation across the country over the past six years, there was insufficient evidence from any platform to show a willingness to recognise a collective body of workers.