State notifies 1% welfare fee for gig workers
Context: The Karnataka government has notified the quantum of the welfare fee to be collected from aggregator platforms to provide social security benefits to platform-based gig workers at 1% per transaction for all services.
- The Karnataka government has notified the quantum of the welfare fee to be collected from aggregator platforms to provide social security benefits to platform-based gig workers.
- While the Karnataka Platform-Based Gig Workers (Social Security and Welfare) Act, 2025, mandates a welfare fee of 1-5% of the payout to the worker for each transaction, the government has fixed the fee at 1% per transaction for all services.
The cap per transaction, however, varies for different services:
- For food and grocery delivery services such as Swiggy, Zomato, Blinkit, Zepto, and BigBasket the cap is at ₹0.5.
- For ride-hailing services such as Rapido, NammaYatri, and Uber, the cap is fixed at ₹0.5, ₹0.75, and ₹1 for two-wheelers, three-wheelers, and four-wheelers, respectively.
- Logistics services like Porter will have to shell out ₹0.5, ₹0.75, ₹1, and ₹1.5 per transaction for two-wheelers, three-wheelers, light commercial vehicles, and heavy commercial vehicles, respectively.
- For e-marketplace services, ₹0.5, ₹0.75, and ₹1 have been fixed as the cap for two-wheelers, three-wheelers, and light commercial vehicles, respectively.
- Professional activity providers like Urban Company have the highest cap at ₹1.5.
Each quarter
- According to a Government Order published in the Gazette on February 13, within five working days from the end of each quarter, every aggregator should calculate the welfare fee, self-declare the same, and pay it to the government.
- All the payments will be mapped onto a Payment and Welfare Fee Verification System (PWFVS) administered by the State government and monitored by the Gig Workers Social Security Board. According to the GO, the details of the welfare fee collected and spent will be disclosed and made available on the portal.
- The bank details for making the payment of the welfare fee will be provided on the website of the Labour Department.