Gig Economy Growth, Platform Worker Well-being and Social Protection Gaps in Urban India
Author(s): Arjun Seshadri, Kavitha Iyer
Affiliation: Department of Economics, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India
Page No: 38-40-
Volume issue & Publishing Year: Volume 3, Issue 4, 2026/04/17
Journal: International Journal of Modern Engineering and Management | IJMEM
ISSN NO: 3048-8230
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19764038
Abstract:
India's gig economy has grown from an estimated 7.7 million workers in 2020-21 to 26.8 million in 2024, driven by platform-mediated work across food delivery, ride-hailing, household services, e-commerce logistics, and digital freelancing. NITI Aayog's 2022 projection that gig and platform workers will constitute 23.5% of India's non-agricultural workforce by 2029-30 has elevated gig economy governance from a niche labour market concern to a central social policy challenge. India's social protection architecture — designed around the stable employer-employee relationship — is systematically circumvented by gig work's algorithmic management and independent contractor classification. This study conducts a multi-platform comparative analysis of 2,126 gig workers across six platforms in five cities (Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai), measuring six wellbeing dimensions (income adequacy, job security, skill development, work-life balance, social protection access, autonomy), earnings distribution, and social protection access. Structural equation modelling identifies earnings predictability (β=0.52), platform governance quality (β=0.44), and autonomy (β=0.38) as the three strongest wellbeing determinants. Only 8% of gig workers have provident fund access and 28% have accident insurance — severe gaps relative to statutory employee coverage. The Oxford Internet Institute collaboration contributes the global Platform Work Index enabling India-UK-EU comparison.
Keywords:
gig economy, platform workers, well-being, social protection, India, Code on Social Security, algorithmic management, Swiggy, Uber, freelancing, labour rights, NITI Aayog
Reference:
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