NEW DELHI, October 13 — The Ministry of Labour and Employment on Tuesday operationalized a dedicated, API-integrated registration architecture for gig and platform workers on the unified e-Shram national database, initiating concrete institutional mechanisms mandated under the Code on Social Security, 2020.
Under the notified operational directives, digital consumer aggregators across ride-hailing, quick-commerce food logistics, parcel delivery, and hyperlocal domestic services must seamlessly onboard active delivery partners and on-demand contractors onto the e-Shram platform. Each registered gig worker receives a seeded 12-digit Universal Account Number (UAN), guaranteeing inter-state portability of social security safety nets, including accident coverage under the Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) and life cover under PMJJBY.
Labour ministry officials announced the establishment of the Social Security Fund for Gig and Platform Workers, financed through an aggregator statutory levy capped between 1 to 2 percent of annual aggregator turnover (restricted to not more than 5 percent of total amounts payable to gig workers). The institutional framework aims to extend universal social security coverage to India's burgeoning gig workforce, estimated at nearly 10 million workers.
The legal definition of gig and platform workers under Section 2(35) and 2(61) of the Code on Social Security 2020, structural features of the e-Shram database (which has registered over 30 crore unorganized workers since August 2021), NITI Aayog's policy paper 'Booming Gig and Platform Economy' (forecasting 23.5 million gig workers by 2029-30), and state-level pioneer legislation (Rajasthan Platform Based Gig Workers Act 2023) are essential syllabus areas across UPSC Civil Services (GS-II: Labour Reforms & Social Protection) and EPFO recruitment examinations.