GIG ECONOMY: AN INSIGHTFUL REVIEW ON NITI AYOG REPORT – Prof. Subanika Pradhan | ISME: Best MBA/PGDM, MCA, BBA, BCom, BCA, PhD Colleges in Bangalore

16 Aug, 2023.

INTRODUCTION

In recent years, the gig economy has grown significantly and is already redefining the nature of work. Due to the rise in urbanization and technological advancements, more people are preferring flexible, independent work arrangements over traditional job patterns. The gig economy offers people the chance to embrace entrepreneurship, follow their hobbies. The rapidly expanding gig economy is bringing about a new economic revolution worldwide.

With its demographic dividend, India.The world’s youngest population, a workforce of half a billion people, rising urbanisation, widespread use of smartphones and related technology—this is the new frontier of this revolution. In light of this context, this groundbreaking analysis offers in depth analyses and suggestions on the gig platform industry in India, which employs millions of gig workers. This study uses factors like location (in urban areas), age (18–45 years), education level (between secondary school and graduation), income level (workers whose household consumption expenditure is below the 75th percentile of monthly per capita. Introduction to the Report consumption expenditure), ownership of mobile phones, and access to a bank account to examine the differences between gig and conventional workers in greater detail.

The goal of this study is to examine gig labour from both an economic and worker standpoint, with a focus on its subset, platform work. Aspects of the gig economy that have been researched economically include its ability to create jobs, its size, and the demand it has across different industries. The worker perspective focuses on the sector’s opportunities as well as its challenges for workers, as well as on initiatives for social protection for all workers in this sector and the potential of platform work in accelerating job creation for various worker categories, including women and Persons with Disabilities (PwD). The following list includes some of the study’s major conclusions and suggestions:

Major modifications have been implemented through the labour codes-2020, which significantly lower the compliance cost for enterprises.Working towards a single license, registration, and return system after labour restrictions are reduced will result in less paperwork. A single Pan-Indian license will be required for a firm to undertake several projects. Furthermore, the inspection procedure would be streamlined and made web-based. The purpose of this research is to examine current labour changes through the lens of the post-COVID-19 pandemic.

PROJECTIONS AND ESTIMATES FOR THE PLATFORM & GIG ECONOMY

in 2020

There were 21, 77 lakh (7.7 million) employees working in the gig economy.
By 2029–2030, there will be 2.35 crore (23.5 million) workers in the gig economy.
At the moment, low-skilled jobs account for 31% of gig employment, 22% of high-skilled jobs, and 47% of medium-skilled jobs.
The trend indicates that workers with middle skill levels are becoming less concentrated, while workers with low and high skill levels are becoming more prevalent.

While it is possible that medium skills will continue to predominate until 2030, gig work requiring other skills is also possible.The gig economy is one of the main business sectors we deal with on a daily basis and is increasing steadily. Some of the most well-known gig economy businesses are listed below, together with the amount of money they made in 2020:

Areas of Improvements:

In spite of the huge surge in the concept of Gig Economy, there are various challenges faced.(Regulating The Gig Economy In India: How Secure Are Gig Workers? Haini Tayal ) There are our key labour laws namely, The Industrial Relations Code (2020),The Occupational Health, Safety, and Working Conditions Code (2020),The Wage Code (2019) & The Code on Social Security (2020) Out of the four laws only the fourth one covers the gig workers.

Therefore, there is a high need of covering the Gig workers under the laws. (Gender And The Gig Economy: A Qualitative Study Of Gig Platforms For Women Workers Ria: Kasliwal) The research suggests that the labour laws should include gig workers. In spite of the remarkable rise of India’s Gig Economy it has not lead to direct increase in the Female Labour Force Participation (FLPR).

Thus it identifies the gaps that prevent women from participating in gig labour and makes helpful solutions.

STEPS TAKEN BY THE GOVERNMENT:

Assisting startups and entrepreneurs connected to platforms: There have been instances of some platforms extending interest-free business advances and delaying payback periods as part of initiatives introduced to mitigate the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic in order to protect the gig workers, the self-employed, and small businesses engaged with them. Zomato, a food delivery service, and the Kerala State Civil Supplies Corporation in Kochi collaborated to add grains and other necessities to the app. Collaborations between platforms and small businesses/entrepreneurs may be promoted after such examples.

Emergency Protection from a Corpus Fund: A mobility platform established a corpus of INR 20 Cr. known as the “Drive the Driver Fund” to assist auto-rickshaw, cab, kaalipeeli, and taxi drivers in order to support them and help buffer the effects of the Covid-19 ban on their income. Offering social security benefits from a corpus fund, for example, can support gig and platform workers as well as other sector-related independent contractors in the event of emergencies.

Inclusive businesses should be rewarded: Platforms run by women or that support hiring women and people with disabilities ought to be given incentives.

CONCLUSION: It is necessary to calculate the gig and platform sector’s contribution to India’s GDP using estimations for its size and growth. Through this research, India may also be able to analyze the speed at which platformization is happening across industries and what enablers and constraints may be contributing to it. India has a lot of potential for the gig economy. India already has a number of places to start in order to combine necessary conditions, additional services, public goods, and public policy in order to enable the gig economy for India and its workforce. A coalition of stakeholders from the private, social, and public sectors, philanthropies, and investors could coordinate and unleash the gig economy’s potential at scale and support India’s growth by providing jobs and alternative means of support for millions of low-income workers throughout the nation. With increasing interest from both investors and users, these early adopters of the gig economy have taken advantage of the trends towards asset sharing, on-demand services, and the market opportunity given by latent and unmet demand in these initial sets of areas. Many of these platforms not only guarantee a seamless user experience but also “own” the numerous services and feature sets necessary to satisfy the requirements of the supply and demand sides of the gig economy.