Amid the growing clamour and heated debates around improving working conditions for gig workers, Telangana has released the draft Gig and Platform Workers (Registration, Social Security and Welfare) Bill, 2025. With this, the state now stands next to Rajasthan and Karnataka for tabling an expansive legal framework for gig economy workers such as ride-hailing drivers, delivery partners and others engaged in a plethora of new-age blue-collar jobs.

Telangana’s draft gig workers’ bill, now sent for public consultation, demands the setting up of a dedicated welfare board, mandates registration of workers and aggregators (Swiggy, Zomato, Rapido, et al), creates a transaction-linked social security fund, and attempts to regulate how platforms use automated decision systems, including ratings, pay deductions and deactivations.

As Telangana pushes this ambitious blueprint, a fundamental question looms — will this endeavour, if it sees the light of day, change the reality of gig workers, who are currently raising their voices for elementary needs like social security, better pay, and respectful termination, among other things?

While we ponder the question together, let’s steal a glance at what the newly tabled bill envisages:

• The Bill proposes the establishment of the Telangana Gig & Platform Workers Welfare Board, with representatives from the government, gig workers, platforms, civil society, and technical experts.
• Mandatory registration: Aggregators must share their gig worker databases with the Board within a fixed period, while workers can also self-register.
• A welfare fund, the Telangana Gig and Platform Workers Social Security & Welfare Fund, is to be created. Platforms must contribute a 1%–2% welfare fee on every payout made to gig workers.
• Non-payment penalties: Aggregators that fail to pay the welfare fee may face up to one year in jail, a fine of up to INR 2 Lakh, or both.
• Data-sharing penalties: Refusing or failing to submit required data, returns or statements can lead to fines of up to INR 50,000.
• The Bill also mandates algorithmic transparency, requiring platforms to explain, in simple language, how automated systems decide assignments, pay, ratings, and terminations.
• Worker protection: Terminations cannot be arbitrary. Platforms must conduct “due enquiry” and give seven days’ notice before deactivation or termination.
• Safety obligations: Platforms must ensure a working environment that is ‘safe and without risk’, and comply with........
  

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