India has taken a significant legislative step toward extending social security protections to the country's rapidly expanding gig and platform workforce. Draft rules under the Code on Social Security 2020 were published on 31 December 2025 for stakeholder consultation, with the stated aim of bringing delivery workers, rideshare drivers, freelance platform contractors, and other non-traditional workers within the scope of formal social protection systems.

The move reflects a broader global trend in which governments are grappling with how to classify and protect workers who operate outside conventional employment relationships — a challenge that carries substantial implications for cross-border labour compliance and multinational enterprises with operations in the region.

However, policy experts have raised concerns that the draft framework, in its current form, leaves significant gaps unaddressed. A central point of contention is the eligibility threshold: under the draft rules, a gig worker must work for the same platform for a minimum of 90 days in a financial year in order to qualify for social security benefits. For workers who operate across multiple platforms simultaneously — a common arrangement in the gig economy — the threshold rises to 120 days. Critics note that these requirements may effectively exclude a large proportion of the workers the rules are intended to protect. Additional concerns relate to wage stability, whose earnings can fluctuate substantially depending on platform demand and algorithmic allocation, as well as working conditions that fall outside the scope of traditional labour protections.

For employment law practitioners and HR compliance professionals advising companies with a presence in India or engaged in cross-border staffing arrangements involving Indian workers, the development of these rules warrants careful attention. The final shape of the regulations — and the extent to which they are enforced in practice — will have meaningful consequences for platform businesses and their workforce obligations.

IERPCA will continue to track legislative and regulatory developments affecting gig and platform workers across key jurisdictions.

Resource: "High and Dry on Gig Workers' Social Security," The Hindu https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/high-and-dry-on-gig-workers-social-security/article70470838.ece