GIG WORKERS IN TWILIGHT

As the economy grows and formal enterprises expand, employment has paradoxically become more informal

- Ajit Ranade

A few years ago, outside the Transport Commissioner’s office in Bandra, thousands of Ola and Uber drivers staged a protest.

Their demands were modest: better fares, fair commissions, humane working hours, and some protection against arbitrary penalties. The official response was revealing. The Commissioner reportedly told them he had no jurisdiction. They were not “employees” but “business partners,” entrepreneurs running their own micro-enterprises. Had they been old style taxi permit holders, he might have been able to help them, since the applicable rules were clear.

That moment was a wake-up call. Not just for cab drivers, but for millions of workers who suddenly discovered that while they bore all the risks of work, they enjoyed almost none of its protections. What we today call the “gig economy” is often portrayed as a new phenomenon born of apps and algorithms. In reality, it is an old Indian phenomenon wearing a digital mask. Nearly two decades ago, the Arjun Sengupta Committee on the unorganised sector documented a striking fact: close to 64% of workers in the unorganised sector were self-employed, and thus did not have an identifiable employer. This is because they worked for multiple principals over short spells. They were self-employed, casual, piece-rate workers—construction hands, home-based workers, street vendors. Today’s gig workers are their technological descendants.