The Karnataka government has announced plans to establish a welfare board for gig workers in the state.
In a post on X, Karnataka chief minister’s office (CMO) said that the state government will levy 5% cess on platform aggregators such as Amazon, Flipkart, Ola, Uber, among others for the “welfare” of gig workers.
The CMO said that the proceeds from the concerned platforms will go towards the welfare board, adding that the state government will continue the remaining funds required to support welfare schemes for gig workers.
“In the state, a decision was made today in a meeting held by Chief Minister @siddaramaiah with Lok Sabha opposition leader @RahulGandhi to form a welfare board for gig workers… A comprehensive bill covering all aspects of gig workers’ welfare will be prepared and presented before the state cabinet for approval,” the post said.
As per news agency PTI, the announcement came following a meeting between Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi. The meeting was also attended by state ministers Santosh Lad, Priyank Kharge, MB Patil as well as representatives of gig workers bodies — Rakshitha Dev, Sheikh Salahuddin and Nikhil Dev.
The development comes barely a week after reports surfaced that the union government was looking to mandate aggregators to contribute 2% of each gig worker’s income towards a potential pension scheme.
This is in line with finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in her Budget 2025-26 speech, announcing a comprehensive social security scheme for 1 Cr gig workers covering health insurance.
Last week, a government panel reportedly noted that 70,000 gig workers have so far been registered with the e-Shram portal, making them eligible to avail Centre’s social security schemes.
The renewed regulatory push comes at a time when aggregator platforms continue to come under fire for issues related to fair pay and working conditions. Last year, ride-hailing giants Ola and Uber as well as logistics startup Porter scored zero points on Fairwork India’s ratings on the working conditions of gig workers.
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