BENGALURU: Ride-hailing platform Ola and logistics start-up Porter continue to be the worst platforms for gig workers. Last year too, they scored zero on a scale of 1 to 10, according to the Fairwork India Ratings 2024: Labour Standards in the Platform Economy report, released on Tuesday.
They have been failing as these platforms do not have policies in place to protect workers from foundational risks arising from the processes of work, and no minimum wage policy, among other things.
This is the fourth year in a row that Ola has scored zero. Uber, which scored one point last year, has scored zero this year. The report, Fairwork’s sixth consecutive annual study of the work conditions of platform workers on digital labour platforms in the country, evaluates 11 platforms offering location-based services in sectors such as domestic and personal care, logistics, food delivery, and transportation, in India.
It assessed platforms against five principles: Fair Pay, Fair Conditions, Fair Contracts, Fair Management, and Fair Representation.
Tata-owned BigBasket has again topped with the overall highest score of 6 out of 10 points. Last year too it topped the fairness table with 6 points.
Only BigBasket and Urban Company were awarded the first point under Fair Pay for instituting a minimum wage policy that guaranteed all their workers earn at least the hourly local minimum wage after factoring in work-related costs.
No platform earned the second point under Fair Pay, which requires platforms to commit to and ensure a local living wage after work-related costs or provide sufficient evidence that all workers earn at least this amount, the report said.
Of the total 11 platforms, six were awarded the first point for Fair Contracts. BigBasket, BluSmart, Swiggy, Urban Company, Zepto, and Zomato were awarded this point for ensuring the accessibility and comprehensibility of their contracts, and for having protocols for the protection and management of worker data.
The first point under Fair conditions for providing adequate safety equipment and periodic safety training to workers on their platforms, was awarded to Amazon Flex, BigBasket, BluSmart, Swiggy, Urban Company, Zepto and Zomato.
The findings mentioned that there was sufficient evidence from BluSmart, Swiggy, Urban Company and Zomato to meet the second point for the principle. They institutionalised the conduct of regular external audits to check for biases in their work allocation systems, in addition to adopting policies against the discrimination of platform workers.
This year, the report examines the changing nature of platform work as platforms increasingly take control of when and for how long workers can provide services or gigs.
It also discusses the potential impact of proposed legislation for platform workers in Karnataka and Jharkhand.
“This year witnessed gig workers’ welfare increasingly gaining attention in political manifestos and legislative initiatives. But with the implementation of these efforts remaining uncertain, and platforms redefining gig work, research and advocacy to improve the conditions of gig workers are ever more relevant,” said Professors Balaji Parthasarathy and Janaki Srinivasan, the Principal Investigators of the team.