The gig economy and its growing fault lines between gig employees and platform companies are in the news again, with 50 women “partners” of Urban Company’s (UC) salon and spa vertical protesting against policy changes that will come into effect from January. These, they claim, will affect their ability to earn and are therefore “unfair labour practices”. The company, India’s largest home-services provider, has filed a lawsuit in Gurugram’s district court against the protests. The judgement in this case could have a bearing on the future of employment in India’s gig economy.

The gig economy, which has grown in importance, especially in the aftermath of the pandemic, has been hailed for its ability to provide an alternate source of employment. At the same time, platform companies like Uber and Amazon have found, much to their chagrin, that countries and country-groups such as the UK and European Union have questioned their stance on treating such employees as “contractors”. They have either ruled against this stance or questioned it, expecting companies to classify employees as “workers”, with attendant benefits such as minimum wages, holidays and pensions.

The gig economy refers to “economic activity that involves the use of temporary or freelance workers to perform jobs typically in the service sector.” It includes both temporary blue-collar workers in delivery and other services and white-collar ‘independent contractors’ and consultants in different sectors hired through digital platforms. While this business model looks promising, it is fraught with problems for platforms that may be more behavioural than legal.

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