Gig Workers Act Comes into Effect in Karnataka

New Delhi, May 28, 2025:  After the Governor’s assent on 27th May 2025, the Government of Karnataka has notified the Karnataka Platform based Gig Workers (Social Security and Welfare) Ordinance 2025.   

We acknowledge, thank and credit all gig workers, their collectives including Indian Federation of App Based Transport Workers (IFAT), Telangana Gig and Platform Workers Union (TGPWU), Joint Committee for Trade Union (JCTU), National Campaign Committee for Central Legislation on Construction Labour (NCC-CL), Hamal Panchayat,  Domestic Workers Rights Union, Jan Pahal, Gig and Platform Service Workers Union (GIPSWU) and all individuals, networks, campaigns and organisations working for the cause of gig workers including International Institute of Information Technology Bangalore (IIIT-B),  Center for Labour Studies NLSIU, Vidhi Karnataka, IT for Change, Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS) , Gayatri Singh, Sai Vinod, Jawahar Raja, Gautam Bhatia, Mannat Waraich, Hrishikesh Parthasarthy, Shobhit S. and so many others for contributing to the collective campaign demanding better legislation to ensure gig workers secure their rights in this new area of working relationships. Finally, given that legislation and protection for this growing set of vulnerable workers has to come through prioritising and legislating by political parties, we would like to acknowledge the important role played by the Indian National Congress in passing landmark progressive legislations in the states of Rajasthan and Karnataka, and setting an example for the country and the world.

With Rajasthan becoming the first State to pass a dedicated law for gig workers welfare in 2023, a benchmark was set which pushed the States and the Central Government to do more. With Karnataka becoming the second State to pass a law with far more progressive provisions than those that were passed in Rajasthan, gig workers have crossed an important landmark to further protect their rights and dignity. Significant provisions of the Karnataka Platform based Gig Workers (Social Security and Welfare) Ordinance 2025 include : 


1. Constitution of a tripartite welfare board with equal representation of platform based gig workers, the Government and aggregators to serve as a platform where workers and their organisations, the aggregators, government, and civil society can deliberate and work jointly on building progressive rights and ensure its implementation

2. Obligation on aggregators to ensure registration of platform based gig workers with the Board

3. Introduction of a dedicated welfare cess fee of 1-5% on each transaction on the app. The fee collected from individual transactions will be credited to a social security fund which shall be used towards financing schemes meant for the welfare of platform-based gig workers

4. Workers having the right to access information from algorithms that have a bearing on their work and wages and records of their work and payments for every transaction

5. Obligation on aggregators to enter into fair terms of contract with workers that shall comply with a) fair wages:  fair terms of piece and /or time rate wages b) occupational safety and c) social security ensured in each transaction. This transaction based labour protection is the breakthrough that the two state legislations have ensured in the gig workers rights framework now being debated and acted on across the world.

6. Protection against arbitrary blocking of IDs

7. Providing a  working environment that is safe and without risk to the health of the platform based Gig worker

8. A two tier time bound mechanism for registration and redressal of grievances

Given the multiple and increasing ways in which platform based work is changing relationships between capital and labour across the world, the Karnataka Gig Workers Law is a critical measure to safeguard the interests of workers and enable them to claim their rights to decent work and wages. The Law is also a testament to using digital technology for the benefit of workers, in contrast to current times where digital technology is only benefitting aggregator companies and customers. We hope that the Government of Rajasthan takes note of these developments and notifies rules for the implementation of its own Act speedily. We also hope that the Government of India, other States and all other political parties take note of the progressive steps being taken by States like Karnataka and Telangana (which has also put up a Draft Gig Workers Bill in the public domain and is awaiting passage) and complement the diverse efforts underway through policies and legislations that treat hard won provisions in the State Legislations as the basic minimum.


In solidarity
Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS) 
, Soochna Evum Rozgar Adhikar Abhiyan (SR Abhiyan) and Social Accountability Forum for Action and Research (SAFAR)