A gig worker in India is defined under Section 2(35) of the Code on Social Security, 2020 as a person who performs work outside a traditional employer-employee relationship, with State-level welfare regimes in Rajasthan and Karnataka.
A gig worker in India is, for the first time in central labour law, a formally recognised category of non-employee worker. Section 2(35) of the Code on Social Security, 2020 defines a gig worker as a person who performs work or participates in a work arrangement and earns from such activities outside of the traditional employer-employee relationship. The Code separately defines a platform worker in Section 2(61) — a person whose work arrangement uses an online platform or app to connect them with organisations or individuals seeking specific services. The two categories overlap; every platform worker is a gig worker, but a gig worker who works through offline arrangements is not necessarily a platform worker.
The recognition is significant. Until the Code, India’s labour-law architecture was binary: a worker was either an employee (covered by PF, ESI, gratuity, and labour codes) or an independent contractor (covered by general contract law and tax). Gig workers fell uncomfortably between the two, exposing aggregators to misclassification risk and leaving workers without statutory protection. Chapter IX of the Code creates a third lane.
Two States have moved ahead of the Central Government’s pace of implementation:
Received assent on 24 July 2023 and notified shortly thereafter. Key features:
Published in the Karnataka Gazette on 12 September 2025, replacing an earlier ordinance. Rules notified on 19 November 2025. Key features:
Together, the Code and the State Acts now cover the great majority of platform-based gig work in India. The Central Code applies pan-India once notified into operational force; the Rajasthan and Karnataka Acts apply within their respective State jurisdictions and impose obligations on aggregators that operate within those States, regardless of where the aggregator is incorporated.
Several Central scheme drafts have been issued for consultation, including a comprehensive social-security scheme for gig and platform workers covering insurance and pension. As of 2026, the Centre has not yet operationalised the welfare-cess collection mechanism nationally, but the e-Shram portal continues to serve as the registration backbone for unorganised, gig, and platform workers. Rajasthan and Karnataka have begun aggregator registration and welfare-cess collection on their State platforms.
Food-delivery aggregator in Bengaluru. Operating in Karnataka, the aggregator must register with the Karnataka Welfare Board, contribute to the Welfare Fund, set up an Internal Dispute Resolution Committee for its rider population (which typically exceeds fifty), and ensure algorithmic transparency.
Ride-share platform in Jaipur. Subject to the Rajasthan Welfare Cess at the rate notified by the State Government within the one-to-two per cent statutory band, deposited by the fifth of every month, plus Welfare Board registration of every driver-partner.
Multi-State logistics platform. Faces overlapping obligations — Central Code on Social Security obligations once operationalised, plus distinct State welfare-cess regimes in Rajasthan and Karnataka, with more States expected to enact similar legislation.
Omnivoo’s primary engagement model is direct full-form employment via EOR, which sits outside the gig-worker regime. For client businesses that operate genuine aggregator platforms, Omnivoo’s compliance dashboard tracks Code on Social Security registration on e-Shram, State welfare-cess obligations under the Rajasthan and Karnataka Acts, Internal Dispute Resolution Committee constitution, and welfare-fund payments, with monthly returns auto-generated for the Boards. For platforms whose worker engagement may cross the line into employment in substance, Omnivoo’s misclassification audit applies the Sushilaben multi-factor test and flags conversion candidates. Read our contractor versus employee classification deep dive for the analytical framework.
The Code on Social Security, 2020 consolidates 9 central social-security laws (EPF, ESI, Gratuity, Maternity Benefit, Building Workers, Unorganized Workers, etc.) into a unified social security framework.
The Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970 regulates engagement of contract labour through registration, licensing, and welfare obligations, with the threshold raised from 20 to 50 workers under the OSH Code, 2020.
An EOR is a third-party organization that legally employs workers on behalf of another company, handling payroll, taxes, benefits, and compliance in the worker's country.
Sham contracting is a disguised employment arrangement in which an employer engages a worker as a contractor while the substance of the relationship is employment. Indian courts pierce such arrangements using a multi-factor test.
Worker misclassification is the treatment of a worker as an independent contractor when, under the applicable federal or state test, the worker should be classified as an employee.
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