New law brings gig workers under Centre’s ESI social security scheme. But there are challenges

The convenience for consumers created by the gig economy has an unforeseen byproduct: it is taking an immense toll on the wellbeing of platform workers.

Gig workers face a heightened vulnerability to road accidents, chronic body aches from long hours and working through erratic weather conditions, from extreme heat to heavy rainfall.

Though platforms claim to provide health insurance for gig workers, these benefits are often subject to performance and earnings, say news reports, worker unions and researchers.

However, gig workers could benefit from the Code on Social Security, 2020, which came into effect from November. It extends recognition to gig and platform workers and seeks to extend benefits such as retirement savings, and state-run health, life and disability insurance to them.

It brings gig workers under the Employees’ State Insurance Scheme, which could provide a comprehensive social safety net, beyond traditional medical expense coverage.

However, for all the benefits such a scheme offers, including gig workers in its purview poses challenges. An expansion would also have to account for gig workers’ volatile incomes and long working hours with no fixed timings.

Physical stress, protection gap

A study published in 2020 of 173 gig workers in Chennai found that between April and June the previous year, 32.36% food delivery workers had met with road accidents.

Similarly, a survey of 166 gig workers in Hyderabad, carried out in June 2024, found that more than half the workers experienced heat exhaustion and 30% reported heatstroke symptoms while working. The research was carried out by HeatWatch, which both authors are associated with, and the Telangana Gig and Platform Workers Union.

Workers have said insurance is often linked to opaque performance ratings. Rest of World interviewed 40 Swiggy riders and found that insurance access was tied to weekly performance rankings, with 65% calling the system unfair and several others saying that claims were fully or partially denied.

A 2024 report by Fairwork, notes that “workers in different categories are prioritised differently for grievance redressal, loss of pay, and insurance schemes”. Similarly, government social security schemes have been tied to standard employment relationships, which leaves gig workers with weak protection even when laws begin to recognise them.

For instance, the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, which provides cashless hospitalisation coverage up to Rs 5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary care, helps if a gig worker is admitted to a hospital but not otherwise.

The Employees’ State Insurance scheme, which has been operating since 1952, could fill such gaps. It is India’s only work-linked social health insurance scheme that provides medical benefits and monetary support for lost wages due to health problems.

The scheme acknowledges the health and economic risks of working in low-paying industries and combines medical care for a worker and their family with cash benefits to cover for loss of wages due to sickness, maternity, injury and the like.

The scheme also offers a safety net in case of extreme heat. In July 2024, the Ministry of Labour and Employment announced that those insured are “eligible for sickness benefit due to heatwave if it necessitates abstention from work”. But more needs to be done.

Floating income, many platforms

The government thinktank Niti Aayog estimates the number of gig workers to increase from 1 crore to 2.35 crore by 2029-’30. By these estimates, including even one crore gig workers under the ambit of the Employees’ State Insurance Scheme will raise the current insured person population by 26%: to 5.01 crore from the current 4.01 crore.

Can the Employee State Insurance Corporation absorb a new insured population without diluting real access? That depends on two linked issues: design and capacity.

The Corporation’s dashboard shows that it has 165 hospitals and 1,574 dispensaries. Where ESIC facilities are unavailable, the insured person can access cashless care through over 1,000 empanelled hospitals. These figures reflect the scheme’s institutional capacity, but underutilisation needs to be addressed before expanding coverage to gig workers pan-India.

The first constraint is the gap between sanctioned and operational capacity. Bed occupancy data can conceal the fact that sanctioned beds are not always commissioned or operational. In Delhi, as of March 2024, 2,100 beds were sanctioned, but only 1,530 were commissioned, creating a shortfall of 570 beds, shows official data.

Second, vacant posts limit service delivery. Under the scheme, Delhi has 32 dispensaries with 312 doctor posts sanctioned, but there are only 177 doctors, creating a vacancy of 135 posts – around 43% – which is roughly four doctor posts per dispensary on average.

There must be a targeted strengthening of the system to be able to cover a large, floating population of gig and platform workers.

Eligibility for the Employees’ State Insurance Scheme is tied to a wage ceiling of Rs 21,000 per month. But gig and platform worker incomes are volatile. Even among “consistent” drivers, around 15% experience month-to-month swings of 20% in earnings per hour, says a research paper by analytics and data nonprofit IDinsight.

The Employee State Insurance Scheme is also funded with the employer contributing 3.25% of the worker’s wages and the employee contributing 0.75%. However, the latest draft rules do not yet clarify if insurance will be through the corporation or a separate insurance product financed by platform contributions.

Then there is also the fact that workers operate with multiple platforms. The draft rules require aggregators to upload worker details but the coverage is tied to a worker’s Aadhaar-linked registration or unique ID on a central portal, so access continues when workers switch or use multiple platforms.

Workers are eligible for benefits if they complete 90 days with one aggregator, or 120 days across multiple aggregators in the last financial year. However, this should not become a stringent requirement.

Four priorities

First, the ESIC should publish district-wise “functional readiness” indicators so expansion to more workers is linked to actual service capacity. A dashboard could report on commissioned beds versus sanctioned beds, specialist posts filled versus vacant, outpatient department hours, and indicate downtime or stock-outs for dispensaries/diagnostics.

Second, since the OPD and dispensary timings are supposed to be 9 am-4 pm on all working days except Sunday, it is a struggle for gig workers with long, irregular working hours, to access healthcare. The Corporation should create a network of extended-hours access points in districts with high gig-worker capacity through dispensaries that are open early mornings, late evenings and on weekends.

Third, design constraints will have to be addressed before extending coverage to gig workers. The rules should allow enrollment from the first day itself into a worker-linked digital account that can automatically receive payments from platform companies based on verification.

Finally, the corporation must invest in dedicated infrastructure, equipment, and practical training for medical staff for rising heatstroke and other heat-related illnesses. It should implement forward-looking protection that anticipates emerging risks.

Ananya Tiwary is a Project Associate at HeatWatch, leading research on heat resilience among women gig/platform workers in Delhi. She works at the intersection of climate risk, labour, and social protection.

Apekshita Varshney is a journalist, development sector professional, and founder of Heatwatch, a nonprofit focused on expanding awareness and action around the impact of extreme heat and heatwaves on marginalised populations in India.