Context: According to the notification, the Labour Minister will be the ex-officio president of the board.
- The Karnataka government on Tuesday issued a notification constituting the Karnataka Platform-Based Gig Workers’ Welfare Development Board under the Karnataka Platform-Based Gig Workers’ (Social Security and Welfare Development) Act, 2025.
- According to the notification, the Labour Minister will be the ex-officio president of the board. Senior officials from the Labour Department, the Department of Information Technology and the Commercial Taxes Department have been included as ex-officio members. The Chief Executive Officer of the board will function as the member-secretary.
- The board includes four representatives of gig workers from unions representing food delivery and app-based transport workers, and four representatives from aggregator platforms. Representatives from Porter, Zomato, Uber and Amazon have been named as aggregator members. The committee also includes labour unions, including United Food Delivery Partners Union, the Indian Federation of App Based Transport Workers, All India Trader Union Congress (AITUC), and Ola Uber Drivers and Owners’ Association.
- The constitution of the board follows the State government’s decision to move ahead with the implementation of welfare measures for gig workers through a dedicated statutory body. Now, both aggregator platforms and gig workers will be required to register with the board.
- Aggregators will have 45 days to complete their registration and furnish details of all gig workers engaged through their platforms. Each registered gig worker will be issued a unique identification number, which will be used by the board to disburse social security benefits. The welfare fund will comprise the welfare fee collected from aggregators, contributions made by gig workers, and grants provided by the State and Central governments.
- The State has decided to levy a welfare fee of 1% to 1.5%, with a cap, on aggregator platforms, with the rate varying across sectors and business models. Labour Minister Santosh Lad had said the levy was kept low initially to ensure a steady welfare fund for gig workers without placing an immediate financial burden on platforms.
- Officials had also said that once contributions begin to flow into the welfare fund, the board will assess whether the collections are sufficient to extend social security benefits to gig workers. The welfare fee may be revised, up to a maximum of 5%, if the funds are found to be inadequate.