The Karnataka Government issues a notification, establishing the Karnataka Platform-Based Gig Workers Welfare Development Board under the Karnataka Platform-Based Gig Workers (Social Security and Welfare Development) Act, 2025.
The notification stated that the Labour Minister will serve as the ex-officio president of the board. Other ex-officio members will include senior officials from the Labour Department, the Department of Information Technology and the Commercial Taxes Department. The Chief Executive Officer of the board will function as the Member Secretary.
The board will have four representatives of gig workers from unions representing food delivery and app-based transport workers, and four representatives from aggregator platforms. At present, representatives from Porter, Zomato, Uber and Amazon have been named as aggregator members.
The committee also includes labour unions, including the United Food Delivery Partners Union, the Indian Federation of App-Based Transport Workers, All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), and Ola Uber Drivers and Owners Association.
The board has been established as per the Karnataka government’s decision to move ahead with the implementation of welfare measures for gig workers through a dedicated statutory body. Both aggregator platforms and gig workers are now required to register with the board.
The government has given aggregators 45 days to complete their registration and furnish details of all gig workers engaged through their platforms. Each registered gig worker will be issued a unique identification number, which the board will use to disburse social security benefits.
The welfare fund will comprise the welfare fee collected from aggregators, contributions from gig workers, and grants from the State and Central governments. Aggregators will have to pay at least 1% of their commission, capped at 1.5% as a welfare fee. This rate will vary across sectors and business models.
Kerala Labour Minister Santosh Lad stated that the welfare fee percentage has been kept low initially to ensure a steady welfare fund for gig workers without placing an immediate financial burden on platforms. Officials added that after contributions begin to flow into the welfare fund, the Board will assess whether the collections are sufficient to extend social security benefits to gig workers.
Depending on the findings, the welfare fee may be revised to a maximum of 5% if the funds are found to be inadequate.
