Gig workers function in high pressure environments, without social security, and often without government oversight in terms of adequate laws to protect them, a panel of experts said.
“The performance standards are so high, that often instead of asking for a tip, they may have asked you for a five-star rating. This ensures they get work soon. A slightly lower rating does have an effect on them,” Sajjad Hussain, who’s doctoral thesis deals with gig workers, said at the Hyderabad Urban Lab-organised Do Din. “In the service sector, we get the impression that the worker is associated with the company. That is not the case with gig workers. They are independent contractors.”
He said that earlier it was governments which used to fix fares. Given the entry of aggregators, this function is now the domain of companies, he said.
Shaik Salauddin from the Telangana Gig and Platform Workers Union pointed out that algorithms leave little choice for the gig worker. He pointed out that given that gig workers are freelance agents, they should have the discretion to work according to their convenience. He said that ratings that customers give on the app to the gig worker decide their future. “It should not be like that. Do we know how tips are disbursed when they are credited? How is it that when the vehicle belongs to the gig workers, the fuel, maintenance and other things are taken care of by the gig workers, these big companies continue to be in losses?” he sought to know. He alleged that aggregators did little to alleviate the suffering of gig and platform workers during the pandemic.
Mr Salauddin, who has been continuously urging the authorities to have a welfare board for gig and platform workers, and adequate laws that guarantee their protection, said that the relevant laws in Rajasthan are a welcome move, but the struggle to have better stipulations would continue.
