The Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India, has published draft rules for gig and platform workers to be eligible for social security benefits. The ministry has said that those engaged in the respective sector would now need to be employed for a minimum of 90 days with an aggregator, or 120 days in case they are employed with multiple aggregators, within one financial year to be eligible for the said benefits, Hindustan Times reported.
The ministry released the notification on December 30, 2025, just a day before gig and platform workers went on a nationwide strike, demanding more humane working conditions and better pay.
What do the draft rules say?
To receive social security benefits, gig and platform workers should have mandatory engagement with an aggregator for a minimum of 90 days within one financial year. If someone has worked for more than one aggregator, the minimum service threshold has been decided to be 120 days.
A worker will be considered to be engaged if they have received monetary remuneration for the job they performed for a single aggregator on a particular calendar day. The amount of income will not be taken into consideration, as per the draft rules, Hindustan Times reported.
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Explanation of the rules
Simply put, the draft rules state that a gig or platform worker will be considered engaged with an aggregator for one day if they earn any income from that aggregator on that day, no matter how much. If a worker works for multiple aggregators, their total engagement days will be added up for all of them. For example, if a worker is engaged with three aggregators on the same day, it will count as three separate engagement days.
Gig or platform workers will be eligible for social security benefits if they are directly engaged by an aggregator or through a separate holding, associate, subsidiary firm, or through a limited liability partnership, or a third party.
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Government to issue ID cards
The Union government has informed that every eligible registered unorganised gig and platform worker will get a digital identity card from the government. The card will carry their photograph and other details, which will be specified by the government.
The registration process has been commenced by the Ministry of Labour and Employment on the e-Shram portal. E-Shram works as the national database for unorganised labourers. Those eligible will be required to update personal details like address, occupation, mobile number, skill, or any other information specified by the portal on a regular basis. Inability to update details might result in non-receiving of social security benefits.
