Fairwork India 2023 report examines the working conditions of gig workers on digital labour platforms
Alienation and discrimination in the platform economy
The Fairwork India Team, spearheaded by the Centre for IT and Public Policy (CITAPP), International Institute of Information Technology Bangalore (IIIT-B), in association with Oxford University, presents the Fairwork India Ratings 2023: Labour Standards in the Platform Economy report. This report examines the work conditions of platform workers on digital labour platforms in India. It evaluates 12 platforms offering location-based services in sectors such as domestic and personal care, logistics, food delivery, and transportation, in India.
This year, the report is structured around the theme of discrimination and alienation that often come up in experiences shared by platform workers in an economy that is presented as free of barriers produced by social identities such as age, caste, gender, and religion. “In a year that has seen the formulation of a significant regulation based on inputs from workers, [The Rajasthan Platform Based Gig workers (Registration and Welfare) Act, 2023], we hope that highlighting the experiences of workers will point to the structural changes that platforms, consumers and the State alike will need to undertake if the platform economy is to offer its workers decent work,” said Professors Balaji Parthasarathy and Janaki Srinivasan, the Principal Investigators of the team, along with researchers Mounika Neerukonda, Bilahari M, Aditya Singh, Raktima Kalita and Meghashree Balaraj.
Fairwork assessed platforms against five principles: Fair Pay, Fair Conditions, Fair Contracts, Fair Management, and Fair Representation. Each principle is broken down into two points: a first point and a second point that can only be awarded if the first point has been fulfilled. Every platform receives a score out of 10. Points are only awarded a point when they can sufficiently demonstrate or commit to the implementation of the principle. Through a combination of desk research and worker interviews conducted in Bengaluru, Delhi, Kochi, and Thiruvananthapuram and, where possible, from evidence provided by the platforms, the Fairwork India Ratings 2023 scores 12 platforms, including Amazon Flex, bigbasket, BluSmart, Dunzo, Flipkart, Ola, Porter, Swiggy, Uber, Urban Company, Zepto and Zomato. This year, no platform scored more than six out of the maximum of ten points, and none scored all the first points across the five principles. Key findings by principle are below:
Key Findings
Before turning to the key findings by principle, there are two highlights of this year’s research, which unfolded against an evolving regulatory landscape for platform workers in Rajasthan and Karnataka, and protests by platform workers in other parts of India.
Firstly, the Fairwork India team decided to include BluSmart in the ratings – a ride-hailing platform aggregator that owns and leases vehicles to its workers. This differentiates it from the other platforms in this sector that operate on “asset-light” models. In its first year of participation in the Fairwork ratings, BluSmart scored higher than more established platforms in the ride-hailing sector, with 5 points out of 10. Thus, there is room for cautious optimism that BluSmart’s operational model might represent a step towards better conditions for drivers in the platform economy.
Secondly, a survey of 963 consumers was conducted across the 12 platforms ranked by Fairwork India. The survey gauged the awareness and perception of the working conditions of platform workers amongst these consumers in 12 major cities. Significant support for the issues raised by the Fairwork principles in the largest cities, which are the most valuable markets for the platforms, signals a strong source of support for bringing change to working conditions in the platform economy.
- Fair Pay
bigbasket, Flipkart, and Urban Company were the only platforms with a minimum wage policy to ensure that all their workers earn at least the hourly local minimum wage after factoring in work-related costs. No platform made the second point of the Fair Pay principle, which requires platforms to provide sufficient evidence that workers earn at least the local living wage after work-related costs. However, Urban Company has made a public commitment to ensure that its workers earn at least the local living wage after factoring in work-related costs (detailed in the Changes in Focus section).
- Fair Conditions
Amazon Flex, bigbasket, BluSmart, Flipkart, Swiggy, Urban Company, Uber, Zepto and Zomato were awarded the first point under the Fair Conditions principle for providing adequate safety equipment and periodic safety training to their workers. Only bigbasket, Swiggy, Urban Company, Zepto and Zomato were awarded the second point for providing workers with accident insurance coverage at no additional cost, monetary compensation for income loss in cases where they were unable to work due to medical reasons other than accidents, and for ensuring workers’ standing was not negatively affected when they returned after a break taken with prior notification given to the platform.
- Fair Contracts
Seven out of 12 platforms were awarded the first point for the Fair Contracts principle. bigbasket, BluSmart,Dunzo, Swiggy, Urban Company, Zepto and Zomato were awarded this point for ensuring the accessibility and comprehensibility of their contracts, and for having a protocol for data protection and management of worker data. bigbasket, BluSmart, Urban Company, Zepto, and Zomato met the requirements for the second point underFair Contracts by adopting a change notification clause in their contracts, reducing asymmetries in liability (such as by a provision to compensate workers for losses due to app malfunctions), adopting a Code of Conduct for their subcontractors, and making the variables of pricing transparent where dynamic pricing was used.
- Fair Management
Amazon Flex, bigbasket, BluSmart, Flipkart, Swiggy,and Zomato were awarded the first point for the Fair Management principle for providing due process in decisions affecting workers, and channels for workers to appeal disciplinary actions. There was sufficient evidence only from BluSmart and Swiggy to meet the second point for the principle. They institutionalised the conduct of regular, external audits to check for biases in their work allocation systems, in addition to adopting policies against the discrimination of platform workers.
- Fair Representation
Representation through a collective body or trade union is a vital dimension of fairness at work. It is disconcerting that despite the rise in platform worker collectivisation across the country, over the past four years, there was insufficient evidence from any platform that showed a willingness to recognise a collective body of workers. Consequently, no platform could be awarded a point for this principle this year.
