Fairwork India Ratings 2020: Labour Standards in the Platform Economy - Labour Standards in the Platform Economy

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Fairwork India Ratings 2020: Labour Standards in the Platform Economy - Labour Standards in the Platform Economy
Labour Standards in the Platform Economy |   1

       Fairwork India
         Ratings 2020:
  Labour Standards in
the Platform Economy
Fairwork India Ratings 2020: Labour Standards in the Platform Economy - Labour Standards in the Platform Economy
2     |    Fairwork India Ratings 2020

Executive Summary
As the scale and scope of work mediated by digital platforms has
grown in India, so has the number of workers registering on such
platforms. This rapid growth has also raised questions about the
work conditions that result from digital mediation.
    As in other parts of the world, platform     a cross-sectoral view of working               after accounting for costs. Urban
    workers in India are predominantly           conditions, and provides new entrants          Company, Flipkart, Grofers, and
    paid a piece rate (i.e. per task), and are   with a glimpse of what to expect from          Ola were the exceptions. This
    typically classified by the platforms        platform work.                                 highlights the need for regulation
    as “independent contractors”, or                                                            and worker consultation on
    as driver / delivery “partners”. One         This is the second year of scoring             matters of pay.
    major concern is that such workers           platforms using the Fairwork principles
    do not benefit from labour regulations       in India. Last year, twelve platforms,     �   Workers have little to no social
    pertaining to wages, hours, working          from sectors including ride-hailing,           security. While some platforms
    conditions, and the right to collective      e-commerce, food-delivery, and home            provide accident insurance,
    bargaining. Consequently, there is an        services, were scored. This year, eleven       workers were unclear of the
    urgent need to examine the nature            platforms were scored, with nine being         procedures to make claims.
    of digitally-mediated work and its           repeated from the first year. Data from        Only two platforms (Urban
    effect on the livelihoods of millions of     multiple sources indicates that, as of         Company and Flipkart) were able
    workers in the country.                      February 2020, an estimated three              to demonstrate that additional
                                                 million workers were registered on the         measures were taken to actively
    To this end, the Fairwork project            eleven platforms scored this year (see         improve working conditions.
    evaluates working conditions on digital      Appendix III).
    platforms and scores them according                                                     �   With the exception of Urban
    to five principles of ‘fair work’,           Key Findings                                   Company and Dunzo, there
                                                                                                was insufficient evidence
    developed through multi-stakeholder
    meetings at UNCTAD, the International             The 2020 platform scores                  that accessible. readable and
                                                 �                                              comprehensible terms and
    Labour Organisation, and in-country               show the heterogeneity in
    stakeholder meetings in India,                    working conditions amongst                conditions were available to
    Germany, and South Africa. The five               platforms, corresponding to               workers. With a growing reliance
    principles are Fair Pay, Fair Conditions,         the policies and management               by some platforms on labour
    Fair Contracts, Fair Management, and              practices that platforms have             recruited from subcontractors,
    Fair Representation. Evidence for                 in place. Urban Company, a                workers were often unclear who
    compliance with these five principles             home services platform, tops              was responsible for their working
    is collected through desk research,               the list of platforms studied this        conditions and for the payment of
    worker interviews, and interviews with            year, followed by Flipkart, an            wages.
    platform management. The evidence                 e-commerce platform. Interviews
                                                                                            �   Platform companies fared better
    is used to assign a “fairwork” score to           with managers on both platforms
                                                                                                when it came to the principle
    individual platforms. With a basic and            revealed that the Fairwork
                                                                                                of Fair Management. There
    an advanced point awarded for each of             process had provided them
                                                                                                was sufficient evidence that
    the five principles, a platform can earn          with new perspectives from the
                                                                                                eight of the eleven platforms
    a maximum score of ten.                           workers’ point of view - enabling
                                                                                                provided due process for workers
                                                      them to reflect on their policies.
    The Fairwork project aims to study                                                          through a channel for workers
    work conditions on platforms on an                While the potential of high               to communicate and appeal
                                                 �                                              disciplinary decisions including
    annual basis, with its scores offering            wages and short payout cycles
    an independent perspective on work                continues to draw workers                 deactivations. Only Urban
    conditions for policy makers, platform            to platform work, there was               Company and Flipkart were
    companies, workers, and ethically-                insufficient evidence that workers        awarded the advanced point.
    minded consumers. In particular,                  on seven of the eleven platforms          Urban Company was awarded
    it offers existing platform workers               earned the minimum wage rate              the point for actively blocking
Fairwork India Ratings 2020: Labour Standards in the Platform Economy - Labour Standards in the Platform Economy
Labour Standards in the Platform Economy |                   3

      customers who discriminate                companies fared poorly when           precarious livelihoods of all
      against service providers. Flipkart       it came to acknowledging a            workers (platform or otherwise),
      was awarded the point for its             collective voice for workers.         this report shows that the
      proactive initiatives to employ           However, no platform was              pandemic has only exacerbated
      women and physically-disabled             agreeable to negotiating with         a precarity already endemic to
      persons in its last-mile workforce.       worker associations and unions.       platform work.

 �    With the exception of Urban           �   While the COVID-19 pandemic
      Company and Flipkart, platform            has brought to prominence the

Fairwork India 2020 Scores*

     Urban Company                                                                     8

     Flipkart (Ekart)                                                             7

     Dunzo                                      4

     Grofers                                    4

     Amazon (ATS)              2

     Bigbasket                 2

     Housejoy                  2

     Ola                       2

     Swiggy        1

     Uber          1

     Zomato 1

     * Scores are out of 10.
Fairwork India Ratings 2020: Labour Standards in the Platform Economy - Labour Standards in the Platform Economy
4     |    Fairwork India Ratings 2020

Editorial:

Towards Fair Work
Platforms connect “individuals and organisations so they can
innovate or interact in ways not otherwise possible”.1 Digital
platforms enable interaction by providing the infrastructure to
mediate between actors who offer services and those who are
looking for them.2 With their ability to lower the transaction costs
of matching supply and demand, platforms are considered to
have the potential to address the employment challenge in the
Global South.3 This report will explore the extent to which that
potential is being realised in India.
    This report examines a category              A prominent issue with work on digital       by healthy and safe working conditions.
    of platforms which offer “work on-           platforms is employment status, as           The other three focus on whether the
    demand via apps” in sectors such             most workers are not classified as           platform’s contract with the workers
    as domestic and personal care                employees with income security and           is fair; management processes and
    services, logistics, food delivery, and      social protection. Rather, they are          communication channels are clear and
    transportation. The report points            usually classified as independent            transparent; and platforms allow for
    out that the growth of the platform          contractors. As a result of such             the expression of worker voice through
    economy has undoubtedly offered              classification, workers find themselves      open worker representation.
    employment opportunities in a country        in increasingly flexible labour markets
    where there is growing concern that          where their survival has become              The Fairwork India team is
    the number of workers seeking work           precarious and vulnerable. Many lack         spearheaded by the Centre for IT
    has far exceeded the number of jobs          labour and income security, and work-        and Public Policy (CITAPP) at the
    available. The section, Overview of the      based identity, with little sense of a       International Institute of Information
    Indian Platform Economy, discusses           future in what they are doing.5              Technology Bangalore (IIITB), along
    the factors that have led to such                                                         with partners at the University
    growth.                                      This report presents the findings of         of Oxford and the University of
                                                 a study conducted by the Fairwork            Manchester. The partners at Oxford
    Although digital platforms offer             India team on how platform work              include legal experts who look at
    employment opportunities, it is far          is perceived and experienced by              potential government-level policy
    from clear whether the work offered          workers on these platforms. The              actions and regulatory interventions
    qualifies as what the International          Fairwork project focuses on five core        to better protect platform workers.
    Labour Organisation calls decent work,       principles of fair platform work: Fair       The team assessed evidence against
    or “work that is productive; ensures         Pay, Fair Conditions, Fair Contracts, Fair   each of the Fairwork principles through
    equality of opportunity and treatment        Management, and Fair Representation.         a combination of desk research and
    for all women and men; delivers a fair       Scores are awarded out of ten to             worker interviews conducted in
    income, security in the workplace and        a platform based on whether they             Bangalore6 and, where possible, from
    social protection for families; provides     meet the basic standard (one point)          evidence provided by the platforms.
    prospects for personal development;          and achieve a higher standard (an            Given the often opaque and fast
    and gives workers the freedom to             additional point) for each of these five     changing nature of the platform
    express their concerns, organise and         principles. The first two principles ask     economy, reliable data is difficult to
    participate in decisions that affect their   if workers receive fair pay for their        come by. Thus, a point is awarded
    working lives.”4                             work, and if their jobs are characterised    only when there is evidence that the
Fairwork India Ratings 2020: Labour Standards in the Platform Economy - Labour Standards in the Platform Economy
Labour Standards in the Platform Economy |     5

                                            Contents
platform fulfils the conditions. Being a
team of researchers with no affiliation
with workers, platforms or government,
our scores provide an independent
assessment of platforms.

This is the second year of rating Indian
platforms.7 In the first year, twelve       02    Executive Summary
platforms were scored. This year too,
the goal was to score twelve platforms
but that number came down to eleven         04    Editorial
due to a merger. The range in Fairwork

                                            06
scores we report here, across various
principles, points to heterogeneity in            The Fairwork Framework
the organisation of platforms across

                                            08
domains, and differences in their                 Overview of the Indian Platform
interpretation of regulation. Based
                                                  Economy
on the scores and findings, some
platforms have expressed an interest
in creating fairer working conditions.
Another purpose of the scores is to
                                            11    The Legal and Policy Context

sensitise and influence the customers
who seek the services offered by
these platforms, to consider working
                                            12    Fairwork Scores

conditions when choosing between
them. These scores can also add to the
resources available to collective bodies    15    Platform in Focus: Urban Company
of workers when they raise demands.
Thus, our hope is that platforms,
workers, regulators, and consumers,         17    Workers’ Stories
will all use the Fairwork framework and

                                            19
ratings to imagine, and realise, a fairer
platform economy in India.
                                                  Theme in Focus: Precarity

                                            21    Impact and Next Steps

                                            24    Appendix I: Fairwork Scoring System

                                            29
                                                  Appendix II: Identifying Platforms and
                                                  Workers

                                            30
                                                  Appendix III: Estimates of Platform
                                                  Workforces

                                            32
                                                  Appendix IV: Funds Raised by
                                                  Platforms

Balaji Parthasarathy,                       33    Appendix V: Additional Resources
International Institute of
Information Technology,
Bangalore (IIIT-B).                         34    Credits and Funding

                                            35    Endnotes
Fairwork India Ratings 2020: Labour Standards in the Platform Economy - Labour Standards in the Platform Economy
6     |   Fairwork India Ratings 2020

                                                                          01            The five
                                                                                        principles

                                                                          Fair Pay
                                                                          Workers, irrespective of their
                                                                          employment classification, should earn
                                                                          the mandated minimum wage in their
                                                                          home jurisdiction after taking account
                                                                          of work-related costs.

                                                                          Fair Conditions
                                                                          Platforms should have policies in place
                                                                          to protect workers from risks arising
                                                                          from the processes of work, and should

The
                                                                          take proactive measures to protect
                                                                          and promote the health and safety of
                                                                          workers.

Fairwork
                                                                          Fair Contracts
                                                                          Terms and conditions should
                                                                          be accessible, readble and

Framework
                                                                          comprehensible. The party contracting
                                                                          with the worker must be subject to
                                                                          local law and must be identified in the
                                                                          contract. If workers are genuinely self-
                                                                          employed, the terms of service must
                                                                          be free of clauses which unreasonably
                                                                          exclude liability on the part of the
The Fairwork project studies                                              platform.

the working conditions of digital
                                                                          Fair Management
platforms and scores them on                                              There should be a documented process

how well they fare. Its goal is                                           through which workers can be heard,
                                                                          can appeal decisions affecting them,
to show that better, and fairer,                                          and be informed of the reasons behind
                                                                          those decisions. There must be a
jobs are possible in the platform                                         clear channel of communication to
                                                                          workers involving the ability to appeal
economy.                                                                  management decisions or deactivation.
                                                                          The use of algorithms must be
                                                                          transparent and result in equitable
    To do this, the project uses five principles that digital platforms   outcomes for workers. There should
    should comply with in order to be considered to be offering ‘fair     be an identifiable and documented
    work’. Fairwork scores platforms against these principles to          policy to ensure equity in management
    show not only what the platform economy is, but also what it          of workers on a platform (for example,
    could be. The five Fairwork principles were initially developed       in the hiring, disciplining, or firing of
    at a multistakeholder workshop at the International Labour            workers).
    Organization. Follow-up workshops were then held for local
    stakeholders in Berlin, Bangalore, Cape Town and Johannesburg.
    These workshops, and subsequent conversations with platform           Fair Representation
    workers, platforms, trade unions, regulators, academics, and          Platforms should provide a documented
    labour lawyers allowed the project to revise and fine-tune the        process through which worker voice
    principles, and ensure that they were applicable to the Indian        can be expressed. Irrespective of their
    context.                                                              employment classification, workers
                                                                          should have the right to organise in
    Further details on the thresholds for each principle, and             collective bodies, and platforms should
    the criteria used to assess the collected evidence to score           be prepared to cooperate and negotiate
    platforms, can be found in Appendix I.                                with them.
Fairwork India Ratings 2020: Labour Standards in the Platform Economy - Labour Standards in the Platform Economy
Labour Standards in the Platform Economy |                       7

02            Methodology

The Fairwork project uses three approaches
to effectively measure fairness at work.

Desk Research
The process starts with desk research
to gain an understanding of the
platforms in operation, by identifying
the largest and most influential ones.     Worker Interviews
This research establishes the range        The third method involves
and types of the platforms that will       interviewing workers of each platform.
be ranked, and identifies points of        These interviews do not aim to build a
contact or ways to access workers.         representative set of experiences. They
Desk research also serves to identify      instead seek to understand the work
any public information that could be       processes and how they are carried out
used to score a platform, for instance     and managed. They allow the project
the provision of particular services to    team, for instance, to see contracts
workers or ongoing disputes.               and learn about platform policies that
                                           pertain to workers. The interviews also

                                                                                       03
                                           allow the team to verify the policies
In India, desk research helped identify
eleven prominent platforms operating       and practices which are in place. See                     How we
in Bangalore, based on the size of         Appendix II for details on recruitment of                 score
their workforce, customer base, and        workers for interviews.
investments.8                                                                          Each Fairwork principle is broken
                                                                                       down into two points: a basic point
                                           Putting it all together                     and a more advanced point that can
Platform Interviews                        This threefold approach provides a          only be awarded if the basic point
The second method involves                 way to cross-check the claims made          has been fulfilled. Every platform
approaching platforms for evidence.        by platforms, while also providing the      receives a score out of 10. Platforms
Platform managers are interviewed          opportunity to collect evidence from        are only given a point when they
and evidence is requested for each         multiple sources. Final scores are          can satisfactorily demonstrate their
of the Fairwork principles. This step      collectively decided by the Fairwork        implementation of the principles.
provides insights into the operation       team based on all three forms of
and business models of the platforms,      evidence. The scores are peer reviewed      Failing to achieve a point does not
and opens up a dialogue through which      by the country team, the Oxford             necessarily mean that a platform
platforms can agree to implement           team, and two reviewers from other          does not comply with the principle in
changes. In cases where platform           Fairwork country teams. This provides       question; it simply means that we were
managers do not agree to engage with       consistency and rigour to the scoring       unable to evidence its compliance.
Fairwork, scoring is limited to evidence   process. Points are only awarded
obtained through desk research and         if clear evidence exists for each           See Appendix I for further details on
worker interviews.                         threshold.                                  the Fairwork scoring system.
Fairwork India Ratings 2020: Labour Standards in the Platform Economy - Labour Standards in the Platform Economy
8     |    Fairwork India Ratings 2020

Overview
of the
Indian
Platform
Economy
Ever since the launch of the e-commerce site Flipkart in 2007,
India has witnessed the emergence of several platforms that
offer “work on-demand via apps” in sectors including ride-
hailing, courier services, food delivery, and domestic and
personal care services (such as beauty, carpentry, electrical, or
plumbing services).
    However, there is little reliable data on,   principles. While interviews with         from services, with the rest coming
    for instance, how many platforms there       workers were conducted between            from industry. Likewise, between
    are, or their revenues. Further, while       November 2019 and February 2020           1984 and 2010, the annual growth in
    the Indian government has proposed           (i.e., before the outbreak of the         productivity in services (4.9 percent)
    that platforms should provide data on        COVID-19 pandemic in India), desk         was ahead of the national figure (3.7
    jobs,9 there is no definitive estimate       research and interactions with the        percent).14 But services include a
    of the size of the platform economy          platforms continued until November        range of activities which vary in the
    workforce. By assembling evidence            2020.10                                   productivity and the skills they employ.
    from various sources (see Appendix                                                     In 2016, for instance, as Figure 2
    III), we estimate that the eleven            A prominent feature of the Indian         shows, the productivity per worker in
    platforms featured in this report have       economy is its decreasing dependence      trade, and in transport, storage and
    a total workforce of over three million      on agriculture for employment, as         communications was barely a third of
    (30 lakh) workers.                           Figure 1 shows.11 The figure also shows   what it was for business, and less than
                                                 that trade, and transport and storage     a fourth of financial services.15 Figure
    This section of the report offers an         (service sub-sectors in which many of     2 also shows that the differences in
    explanation for the growth of location-      the platforms studied by this report      productivity correspond to differences
    based platform services in terms of          operate), have led the way in offering    in education. In 2005, the share of
    macro-economic shifts that have taken        jobs over the last two decades.12         employees with a secondary education
    place in India in recent years. Later                                                  in sub-sectors such as transport and
    sections describe the work and work          Despite remaining the largest source of
                                                                                           communication, and wholesale and
    conditions in the platform economy in        employment, agriculture’s contribution
                                                                                           retail trade, was less than half of what
    more detail, drawing on our study of         to gross value-added in 2016 was
                                                                                           it was in financial services and in
    eleven platforms using the Fairwork          only 15.23 percent.13 The biggest
                                                                                           business services.16
                                                 contribution of 51.13 percent came
Fairwork India Ratings 2020: Labour Standards in the Platform Economy - Labour Standards in the Platform Economy
Labour Standards in the Platform Economy |                                            9

 Figure 1 Changing proportion of employment by sector, 1991-2016

                70%
                 75%
                              1991
                             62.6%
                             62.6%
                                               Agriculture                               Industry                                         Services

            52.5%

                50%                        2016
                                           45.1%
                                           45.1%
Proportion of
employment

                35%                                                                                                        2016
                                                                                                                           31.9%
                                                                                                                           31.9%
                                                                                    2016

                                                                                                                            Transport & Storage
                25%                                                                                     1991
                                                                                    24%
                                                                                   24.0%
                                                                                                        21.7%

                                                                                                                   Trade
                                                                                                        21.7%
            17.5%                                                  1991

                                                                                                                                                  Others
                                                                   15.7%
                                                                   15.7%                                           14.6%
                                                                                                                   14.6%

                                                                                                                                                  9.9%
                                                                                                                                                  9.9%
                                                                                                                            7.4%
                                                                                                                            7.4%

                                                                              Source: Generated from references in endnotes 11 and 12

 Figure 2 Comparing worker productivity in current Rupees (2016), and levels of secondary education (2005), by
 services sub-sectors

                                                             Transportation          Business               Financial
                                       Trade                                         Services               Services
                                                              and Storage
 secondary education

                                                                                                                                                    Completed
   employees with
    Proportion of

                                                                                                                                                    at least
       (2005)

                                     35%
                                     35%                 34%
                                                         34%
                                                                   66%
                                                                                            23%
                                                                                             23%
                                                                                                        84%
                                                                                                        84%     16%
                                                                                                                 16%                                secondary
                                           65%
                                            65%                     66%            78%
                                                                                   78%
                                                                                                                                                    education

                        1400000
                       1,500,000
                                                                                                        ₹ 12,59,280

                        1120000

                                                                          1
Worker productivity

                       1,000,000
 in services’ sub-

                         840000                                                     ₹ 8,11,680
      sectors
      (2016)

                         560000
                        500,000

                         280000      ₹ 2,35,780              ₹ 2,55,390

                                                                 Source: Generated from references in endnotes 15 and 16
Fairwork India Ratings 2020: Labour Standards in the Platform Economy - Labour Standards in the Platform Economy
10     |   Fairwork India Ratings 2020

Figure 3 Changing proportions of employment in the organised economy with access to social protection, 2000-
2012

                                                                                                            Proportion of casual
        Proportion of regular           Proportion of regular
                                                                            Proportion of non-                 employment
            employment                      employment
                                                                           regular employment               (within non-regular
       (with social protection)       (without social protection)
                                                                                                               employment)
 100%                               40%                              20%                             20%
                                                                              16.5%        17.4%
                                                         31.2%                                                            15.9%
     75%                            30%                              15%                             15%
            61.9%
                        51.3%                21.5%
     50%                            20%                              10%                             10%

     25%                            10%                               5%                              5%      3.1%

             2000        2012                2000         2012                 2000        2012                2000       2012

                                                                                      Source: Generated from reference in endnote 27

 As the employment profile of the              venture capital investments in India,25        labelled “independent contractors”
 country has changed, those leaving            an estimated US$14.82 billion went to          or “partners”, belong to either of the
 agriculture have increasingly found           nine of the eleven platforms studied in        (growing) regular non-protected or
 livelihood opportunities in relatively        this report (see Appendix IV). A final         casual worker categories. How these
 low-value added sectors, with low             factor in this growth is an ambiguous          contractors or partners (i.e. workers)
 educational barriers to entry.17 Cities       legal environment, which is discussed          perceive and experience platforms
 beckon with opportunities,18 and the          in The Legal and Policy Context section        are considered in the Theme in Focus:
 resulting migration is male-dominated         of the report.                                 Precarity section. But, before that, the
 and rarely permanent.19 Once in the                                                          next section will present an overview
 city, at least some of them find work         Having outlined some of the reasons            of the legal context of the platform
 in the app-based platforms, attracted         behind the recent growth in location-          economy in India.
 in part by the higher income, and             based platform services in India,
 the short and relatively predictable          we turn to considering how work
 payment cycles, in comparison with            conditions have changed in the
 other work alternatives.                      economy. Since the platforms studied
                                               in this report belong to the organised
 A second factor that has facilitated          economy, the conditions of work in this
 the growth of the platform economy            segment of the economy are worth
 in India is the proliferation of mobile
 phones with internet connectivity. A
                                               examining.26 Although employment
                                               in the organised economy is relatively
                                                                                            “Between 2013
 country that had barely 1.1 telephones        small, it accounted for 45.6 percent of      and 2019, of a total
 per 100 people in 1994,20 had 93.27           total output in 2012.27 In services too,
 by 2018. By 2018, 98.12 percent of            the organised economy contributed            of US$39.7 billion
                                                                                            in venture capital
 all telephone connections were mobile         50.6 percent to the total sectoral
 access,21 of which 34.7 percent had           output, whereas it accounted for only
 broadband internet connections.22
 A third factor in the growth of the
                                               25.6 percent of sectoral employment.
                                                                                            investments in
 platform economy has been the                 Despite the productivity of the
                                               organised economy, including in the
                                                                                            India...US$14.82
 increasing last-mile access for platform
 workers to reach customers. India             services sector, Figure 3 shows that         billion went to
                                               the proportion of regular employment
                                                                                            nine of the eleven
 is the world’s biggest two-wheeler
 (motorcycle and scooter) market, with         with social protection has declined.

                                                                                            platforms studied in
 a third of households owning one.23 A         This decline has been accompanied
 fourth factor is the supply of venture        by an increasing proportion of regular
 capital to support the expansion of           employment without social protection,
                                               and non-regular employment,
                                                                                            this report.”
 the industry.24 Between 2013 and
 2019, of a total of US$39.7 billion in        especially the casualisation of labour.28
                                               Most platform workers, euphemistically
Labour Standards in the Platform Economy |                      11

The Legal and Policy
Context
Much like in other countries, Indian platform companies and
workers operate within a murky and rapidly evolving legal and
policy context.
 Two axes of contention are the             be covered by an existing workplace-       The dual uncertainties of employment
 classification of workers (i.e. are        related legislation,39 or whether new      status and regulatory classification
 they independent contractors/self-         legislation was needed to cover gig        arguably allow platform companies
 employed, or are they employees of         workers.40                                 to make their own rules with respect
 the platform?), and the applicability                                                 to wages and working conditions.
 of sector-specific regulations (e.g.       A second issue that affects platform       As shown in the rest of this report,
 transport or food safety) to platform      workers is the classification of the       these uncertainties can leave workers
 companies which describe themselves        platform companies and the range           vulnerable. It is imperative that the
 primarily as technology companies.29       of entities involved in regulating         labour department at the central
                                            different aspects of their operations.41   and state levels, along with other
 Being treated as independent               Historically, platform companies           departments and regulators, come
 contractors limits the protections         have argued that they are merely           together to draft robust legislation and
 (minimum wages, working hours,             technology platforms.42 But over           regulations for platform workers and
 gratuity pay), social security             time, these companies have been            other non-standard forms of work.
 (Employees Provident Fund,                 brought under the purview of certain
 Employees State Insurance), and            sectoral regulations pertaining to
 collective bargaining rights available     transportation, food delivery, and other
 to platform workers under law, as          services. For example, the Food Safety
 orders or judgements from the Delhi30      and Standards Authority has issued
 and Karnataka31 High Courts have           specific guidelines for “ecommerce
 indicated.32 Some have even argued         food business operators.”43 Similarly,
 that, in the absence of regulatory
 clarity, worker grievances should
                                            the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act,
                                            2019, requires platform companies
                                                                                       “For the most part,
 be taken up under the Consumer             offering transport services to possess     platform work
 Protection Act instead, by treating        an “aggregator” classification and
 workers as “consumers” of the              a state license to operate.44 The          as a whole has
 platform company.33 For the most
 part, platform work as a whole has
                                            Motor Vehicle Aggregator Guidelines,
                                            2020, provides a framework of
                                                                                       remained largely
 remained largely invisible in the
 context of labour laws, including labour
                                            rules for states to regulate the
                                            service conditions and tariffs of the
                                                                                       invisible in the
 contracting.34 It was only in 2019 that    aggregators.45 These sector-specific       context of labour
 “gig” or “platform” work even found        regulations can also affect the earnings
 explicit mention in a labour code. A       and working conditions of platform         laws. It was only
 draft Code on Social Security—the only
 one of four proposed labour codes that
                                            workers. Given the range of entities
                                            potentially involved in regulating
                                                                                       in 2019 that ‘gig’
 mentions this category of workers35—
 was introduced in 2019,36 studied by
                                            platform companies,46 a concern is
                                            that this may take place without a clear
                                                                                       or ‘platform’ work
 a Standing Committee and passed            demarcation of accountability between      even found explicit
 by Parliament in September 2020.37         these entities.47 As a consequence, no
 There have also been attempts to draft     one entity is currently held accountable   mention in a
 a law for platform work and workers
 by states. For instance, Karnataka38
                                            for ensuring workers’ rights or
                                            regulating their working conditions in
                                                                                       labour code.”
 initiated discussions in 2019 to           this regulatory landscape.
 examine whether gig workers could
12     |   Fairwork India Ratings 2020

     Fairwork Scores
     Score (Out of 10)*

     Urban Company                                                                              8

     Flipkart (Ekart)                                                                7

     Dunzo                                       4

     Grofers                                     4

     Amazon (ATS)            2

     Bigbasket               2

     Housejoy                2

     Ola                     2

     Swiggy        1

     Uber          1

     Zomato 1

     * The breakdown of scores for individual platforms can be seen at: www.fair.work/ratings
Labour Standards in the Platform Economy |                         13

The platform scores in this report       longer hours on the platform, these too     our study demonstrated sufficient
rely on data gathered using the          contributed to extended hours of work.      evidence that satisfied all the criteria
Fairwork Framework as laid out           Finally, even in cases where platforms      for the advanced point.
in the Methodology section. After        promised a minimum guaranteed
desk research was conducted,             amount to workers, on the condition
workers from all eleven platforms        that they were logged on to the
were interviewed,48 and evidence         platform for a stipulated duration (and
was collected from the platform          satisfied other conditions), earnings
managements of four (namely, Dunzo,      fell below minimum wage rates once          Fair Management
Flipkart, Uber and Urban Company).       fuel costs were taken into account.
Appendices I and II provide further                                                  The basic point on Fair Management
details of the evidence used to score                                                was awarded to platforms that
each point, and how it was gathered.                                                 demonstrated due process in decisions
                                                                                     affecting workers. Of the eleven
                                                                                     platforms studied, seven offered
                                         Fair Conditions                             communication channels for workers
                                                                                     that served this purpose, including
                                         A basic point was awarded to                helpline numbers, management-
Fair Pay                                 platforms if they were able to mitigate     created Whatsapp groups and, in some
                                         risks faced by workers, by offering         cases, one-on-one communication
Of the eleven platforms we studied       accident insurance while logged in,         channels with managers or team leads.
this year, workers on eight earned the   safety gear and safety training (paid for   However, workers from the other
hourly minimum wage before factoring     and conducted by the platform), and         four platforms (namely Ola, Swiggy,
in their costs (see Appendix I for       having an SOS button or emergency           Uber and Zomato), were increasingly
details on how the hourly minimum        helpline for workers. There was             dissatisfied with the communication
wage is derived). However, there was     enough evidence to award the basic          channels made available to them. The
insufficient evidence that workers       point to seven of the eleven platforms:     helpline numbers provided were either
on Bigbasket, Housejoy and Swiggy        Bigbasket, Dunzo, Flipkart, Grofers,        unresponsive most of the time or had
earned the minimum wage before           Housejoy, Swiggy and Urban Company.         premeditated responses. Workers on
costs. While within Housejoy, there                                                  these platforms added that ID blocks
was sufficient evidence that beauty      The advanced point was awarded              without warning were frequent, and
workers and home service providers       to platforms that went beyond risk          that there was no documented process
(electricians, plumbers, technicians     mitigation and took active steps            to appeal when they were blocked
etc.) earn above the minimum wage,       to improve conditions for workers.          (see the accounts of ID blocks in
there was insufficient evidence          Only Urban Company and Flipkart             Workers’ Stories section ). Workers also
that professional cleaning crews,        demonstrated sufficient evidence for        complained that they had to report the
hired through subcontrators, earn        this point. Urban Company provided          block at the platform hub in order to
the minimum wage as well. On the         health insurance (for top performers        be unblocked, which effectively meant
advanced point, workers on Flipkart,     in selected categories), redesigned         losing out on daily earnings and daily /
Grofers, Ola, and Urban Company          equipment to reduce material                weekly incentives.
earned the hourly minimum wage           handling-related injuries and offered
after accounting for fuel costs (see     skill certification, while Flipkart         Hub-based platforms fared better
Appendix I for an analysis of other      provided career progression programs        with regards to the basic point for
costs which are not accounted for in     for their delivery workforce.               Fair Management. Workers from
our calculations.)                                                                   platforms like Bigbasket and Flipkart
                                                                                     contacted their hub manager directly if
It is worth pointing out here that pay                                               they faced an issue, and hub-specific
on platforms proved hard to estimate,                                                WhatsApp groups for workers were
with even workers finding it hard to                                                 also maintained by the management.
compute their costs and hours of         Fair Contracts                              Housejoy and Urban Company also
work. For one, even where workers                                                    maintained category-wise Whatsapp
made the (hourly) minimum wage           For Fair Contracts, platforms were          groups for their workers. The concerns
criterion, they did so by working        awarded a basic point if a contract         raised by workers on these Whatsapp
more than the 48 hour work week          existed and was made readable,              groups were similar across platforms;
(see Appendix I for more details).       comprehensible and accessible to            workers recalled sorting out navigation
Additionally, on some platforms,         workers by the platform. There was          issues, order allocations, and how
pay has several components, with         sufficient evidence for only Dunzo          to deal with rude customers. Urban
incentives constituting a large share.   and Urban Company to merit this             Company also sent its workers multiple
Since incentives tended to be tied to    basic point. None of the platforms in       messages if their rating dropped below
14   |   Fairwork India Ratings 2020

                                                                                                       JasonArora / Shutterstock.com

 a certain threshold before blocking and       training to sensitise workers to the    serve as a channel for workers to
 re-training them. Their application also      issue, and provides separate locker     collectively express their opinion about
 remained accessible to workers who            rooms for men and women.                various policies to the management.
 were blocked, allowing them to appeal                                                 Beyond these examples, there was
 the blocking decision.                                                                no evidence of platform management
                                                                                       supporting or acknowledging worker
 The advanced point for this principle is                                              collectivisation in the platforms
 awarded to platforms that demonstrate                                                 studied.50 Furthermore, in cases where
 inclusiveness by proactively seeking          Fair Representation                     worker strikes had taken place in the
 to employ marginalised populations.                                                   past (mainly in ride-hailing and food
 Only two platforms, Flipkart and Urban        The basic point on this principle was
                                                                                       delivery platforms), platforms had
 Company, were awarded this point.             awarded where there were worker
                                                                                       reacted in different ways. Zomato, for
 As detailed in the next section, Urban        voice mechanisms and freedom of
                                                                                       example, blocked the IDs of several
 Company provided documentation                association, and the advanced point
                                                                                       workers who participated in a strike,
 of instances when they had publicly           where there is evidence of worker
                                                                                       as detailed in the Workers’ Stories
 supported their workers who faced             collectivisation being permitted.
                                                                                       section.51 Additionally, the Zomato
 discrimination. They also agreed to           One of the two examples of spaces
                                                                                       contract explicitly states that any
 add a no discrimination clause in the         or fora for worker voices were the
                                                                                       partner who is found “indulging in acts
 customers terms of use. Flipkart,             regular, face-to-face meetings that
                                                                                       such as creating ruckus / strike / or any
 meanwhile, provided examples of               Urban Company conducted with small
                                                                                       activity against Zomato, which could be
 initiatives it has established to diversify   groups of workers from each service
                                                                                       detrimental to the Zomato’s brand and
 its last-mile workforce by proactively        category. These meetings were called
                                                                                       its image” will be terminated.52
 employing women and physically                and run by the management to take
 disabled persons.49 It also conducts          up worker concerns and facilitate       For the advanced point, there was
 sensitisation programs for its supply         a two-way conversation between          insufficient evidence that any platform
 chain workers to ensure an inclusive          workers and management. The other       currently recognised or was willing
 working experience for differently            was the monthly town hall meetings      to recognise worker trade unions.
 abled and women workers. Besides its          of Flipkart which brought together      Overall, none of the platforms showed
 zero-tolerance policy towards sexual          workers, Team Leads, HR staff and       an interest in acknowledging, or
 harassment, the platform also provides        subcontractors. These meetings          encouraging, worker collectivisation.
Labour Standards in the Platform Economy |                   15

Platform in Focus:

Urban Company                                                                                                            Total

          Principle 1:                      Pays at least the local                  Pays the local minimum                2
                                            minimum wage                             wage plus costs                      POINTS

          Fair Pay

          Principle 2:
                                            Mitigates task-specific risks
                                                                                     Actively improves working             2
          Fair Conditions                                                            conditions                           POINTS

          Principle 3:                      Clear terms and conditions
                                                                                     The contract genuinely
                                                                                     reflects the nature of the            1
          Fair Contracts                    are available                                                                  POINT

                                                                                     empplyment relationship

          Principle 4: Fair                 Provides due process for                 There is equity in the                2
                                            decisions affecting workers              management process                   POINTS

          Management

                                                                                     There is a collective body of
                                                                                                                           1
          Principle 5: Fair                 Includes freedom of
                                                                                     workers that is recognised, and
                                            association and worker
          Representation                                                             that can undertake collective         POINT

                                            voice mechanism
                                                                                     representation/bargaining

                                                  Urban Company overall score                                          08
Urban Company is an at-home service         minimum wage while working (on                   Successful workers are encouraged
provider platform headquartered in          average) a 48-hour working week for              to apply for a Recognition of Prior
Gurugram, Haryana. Using its app and        most categories of services. It is worth         Learning (RPL) certification which
website, Urban Company connects             noting, however, that some categories            could prove useful towards their career
its customers to the providers of           of Urban Company workers, particularly           progression. As of February 2020, 70
various services, including beauty,         beauty workers, are mandated to buy              percent of Urban Company’s workforce
deep cleaning and maintenance work,         their equipment and products from                had received this certification.
among others. Towards this, Urban           the platform.53 This practice increases          Urban Company has also redesigned
Company first screens and onboards          the costs for workers, although it is            equipment to improve worker comfort
service providers (who it refers to as      justified by the platform as a means             and safety. For instance, massage
“service partners” but whom the report      of ensuring standardised service                 tables were redesigned to make them
will refer to as “workers”, consistent      provision.                                       lighter so that workers did not struggle
with the rest of the report), trains them                                                    while transporting them to customer
for specific services, assigns them         Urban Company has introduced                     locations. It is for these reasons that
jobs based on customer demand, and          several innovative measures in working           Urban Company is one of only two
finally, facilitates their payment.         conditions. It provides dedicated                platforms that scored the advance
                                            training sessions for its workers in             point for Fair Conditions.
Conversations with Urban Company            several service categories, including
workers and data from the company           beauty and massage services, house               Urban Company workers are provided
indicate that most workers earn above       cleaning and appliance repair, once              with an oral explanation of their
the local minimum wage after factoring      they sign up with the platform. For              contracts during their onboarding
in costs. Amongst the eleven platforms      many categories of work, Urban                   and training. They are also given a
scored in this report, Urban Company        Company workers participate in                   photocopy of the contract to keep.
was the only platform to provide            training sessions over ten days and              After engaging with Fairwork, Urban
evidence that its workers earn above        are evaluated at the end of this period.         Company has agreed to translate
16   |   Fairwork India Ratings 2020

 its worker contract into multiple         workers and / or by customers.55         of workers are an example. These
 languages and notify workers by the       For example, Urban Company has           worker-centred discussions, one
 first quarter of 2021.54                  resisted requests from some workers      of which the team witnessed, are
                                           to segregate jobs by partner identity    hosted either at the Urban Company
 Urban Company also offers clear           (based on their caste or region)         offices or in cafes on the field based
 channels of communication for             and blocked a customer who did           on the convenience of the group.
 workers’ grievances, including a          not want Muslim service providers.       The management has also rolled out
 helpline and Whatsapp groups created      After engaging with Fairwork, Urban      quarterly job satisfaction surveys in
 by the management that workers found      Company has also agreed to add a no      three languages for feedback from
 responsive. Where worker accounts         discrimination clause in its customers   partners on their experience with
 are deactivated, workers are still able   terms of use.                            Urban Company and their inputs on
 to access the Urban Company app                                                    policies they would like changed. While
 and raise appeals, a provision that       Besides the helpline and Whatsapp        such discussions and surveys may
 almost no other platform provides at      groups that are focussed on individual   foster a conversation and participation
 present. Though the Urban Company         grievances or queries, Urban Company     by partners, these fora remain
 management is yet to take proactive       has also created fora to enable          management-led. Urban Company is
 steps to employ marginalised groups,      conversations between workers and        yet to encourage and accept worker-
 there were examples that showed that      management to discuss collective         governed bodies as a channel for
 the management had reacted strongly       grievances. Regular Focussed Group       interaction between partners and
 to instances of discrimination against    Discussions (FGDs) with small groups     management.
Labour Standards in the Platform Economy |                        17

  Workers’ Stories
                             Antony* hails from Kerala. He is 33 and married      city when estimating ride durations, making
                             with children. Prior to joining Uber, Antony         the target number of rides for various incentive
                             worked as a driver in Saudi Arabia. He returned      levels unrealistic. Frequent blocking is another
 Antony                      to India to be closer to his family. His family      threat drivers face, with implications for their
                             resides in Kerala while he stays in Electronic       daily / weekly incentives. Antony was blocked
Uber Cab Driver              City, Bangalore, sharing a flat with two others.     recently from the platform. “A customer had
                             Uber seemed the best option for him since he         complained that my driving was rash and I was
                             had previously worked as a driver. He also tried     immediately blocked. I tried sending them
                             food delivery for a while, but couldn’t bear the     messages and calling them but they were
                             exposure to the pollution in the city that driving   unresponsive. So I had to go to their office, wait
                             a two-wheeler entailed.                              in line, and ask them to unblock me only after
                                                                                  which they let me go with a warning.” Falling
                             When we interviewed Antony on Church Street,         incentive rates are a concern as well—the
                             Bangalore, he told us that he had been driving       weekly incentives dropped from Rs 6000 to Rs
                             with Uber for 17 months. Until a month ago,          2000 during the time he’d been with Uber.
                             he did not own the car he drove—he leased
                             the car from Uber’s subsidiary and had to pay        Antony pointed out that there are no regular
                             Rs 17,000 a month for 16 months to clear             and reliable channels through which to raise
                             the lease, which he just had. Antony said he         these issues. While he did receive a couple
                             drives on average for 16 hours a day everyday,       of messages about ‘Samaaj’ meetings being
                             which is in the highest bracket of working hours     conducted at the Uber hub, the pressure to
                             amongst our interviewees. With a sense of            meet his monthly lease obligations left him
                             urgency in his voice, he said, “I needed to clear    with little time to attend. Besides, parking
                             the lease right? So I had to keep driving”.          space for all drivers would probably not be
                                                                                  available. Despite moving from Saudi Arabia to
                             Antony has his share of issues with Uber. He         Bangalore to be closer to his family, he finally
                             complained that the Uber navigation system           visited them only last month, after clearing
                             does not take into account the traffic in the        Uber’s lease.

     *Names changed
     to protect worker
     identity

                         The Road Provides / Shutterstock.com
18    |   Fairwork India Ratings 2020

                        JasonArora / Shutterstock.com

                           Vikrant*, 35, delivers for Zomato in               incentives.”
                           Koramangala, Bangalore. He hails from
                           New Delhi and previously worked as a hotel         While these issues remain, and need
                                                                              to be resolved, Vikrant says that riders’
    Vikrant                manager in Bangalore. He later signed up with
                           Swiggy but left after seven months because         dissatisfaction mainly stems from the long
Zomato delivery rider      they didn’t pay him enough, and he didn’t          working hours combined with the lack of safety
                           like their mandatory 10-hour login policy. He      and benefits. When asked whether Zomato
                           then moved to Zomato and has been with the         provided them any insurance he laughs grimly
                           platform for the past two years.                   and says, “Insurance, yeah there is insurance.
                                                                              After death is confirmed…they roll it out based
                           As the interview progressed, other riders joined   on the priority of the case. I was injured a few
                           the conversation and we were soon talking to       months back while working but they did not
                           a group of about eight. Most of them are with      pay anything because I wasn’t hospitalised.
                           Zomato (judging by their uniforms) but a couple    Recently another boy was injured and
                           deliver for Uber Eats and Swiggy as well. The      hospitalised, they rolled out 1 lakh.”
                           riders highlight the major issues they have
                           been facing with Zomato in particular, and the     Another Zomato rider adds, “In the meeting 3
                           food delivery sector in general.                   or 4 months ago, they told us that if your bike
                                                                              is punctured, take a rental bike and finish the
                           One Zomato rider complains about not               delivery first. If you meet with an accident, first
                           receiving orders in areas other than               finish the delivery and then go wherever you
                           their chosen pick-up zone (in his case,            have to go.”
                           Koramangala). As a result of this rule, when
                           workers deliver food outside of this zone,         Vikrant and the other riders mobilised support
                           they are not allocated any orders on their way     via Whatsapp groups and organised a strike
                           back. Riders thus incur fuel costs on their        a few months ago. Their set of demands
                           return journey, without a means of covering        included fixed salaries, fixed working hours and
                           these costs. Unstable incentive structures         benefits like ESI and PF. While Zomato did not
                           are another concern. When Vikrant brings           acknowledge the demands and the protest, the
                           this up, the other riders immediately agree.       platform did block the IDs of the riders who
                           Vikrant, who has already been blocked twice        participated in the strike. The riders say they
                           by Zomato, says, “If you cancel too many           expected this response. As one of them said,
                           orders you get blocked. If your ID is blocked,     “Zomato, Swiggy and Uber are like the Modi
                           you have to visit the office to get unblocked.     government. If you protest, they’ll just shut you
                           Once you do, you have to start afresh with the     up.”
   *Names changed          incentive structures of a new joinee. But if you
   to protect worker                                                          Shifting to other platforms in the food
                           get blocked more than three times, you will be
   identity                                                                   delivery sector is also not a viable option. As
                           permanently blocked from the platform. We
                                                                              an UberEats rider points out, “We just wear
                           think they sometimes just block at random
                                                                              different colours. But we all work for the same
                           so that this way, they have to pay us lower
                                                                              company really.”
Labour Standards in the Platform Economy |                        19

Theme in Focus:

Precarity
As the report pointed out in an earlier section, precarity—in
the sense of labour and income insecurity, and the lack of
work-based identity—has long featured in the lives of a large
proportion of Indian workers. It is not new, nor unique, to
platform work in India. Yet, the reasons for its existence and
the characteristics it takes on specifically within platform work
merit attention.
 Based on worker interviews in              Discussions with workers, and other          depending on their experience on the
 Bangalore, this section highlights         data collected, confirms that earnings       platform and their relationship with
 the form precarity takes in platform       on a platform can vary widely across         it (how many times they have been
 work along these dimensions (to the        workers, and by work location and time       blocked, or participated in strikes may
 extent they overlap with the Fairwork      of day. “Incentives” play an important       make a difference, for example).58
 principles): income insecurity, labour     role in bringing about these variations
 insecurity (reflected in working           in several platforms. Shifts in income       Besides all these variations in
 conditions, some of which are a            depend first on how big a chunk of the       incentives in the short run, incentives
 result of the ambiguous location of        earnings comes from incentives and           that were offered to bring workers on
 platform companies in the regulatory       this is different for different platforms.   board have also declined, and often
 landscape), and a lack of work-based       For instance, incentives could               with little notice. For instance, the
 identity due to various models of          constitute as much as 40-50 percent          incentives offered by Ola and Uber
 subcontracting by platform companies.      of earnings on some of the food              when they started their operations
                                            delivery platforms;56 and a lower but        in Bangalore in 2011 and 2013

 Insecurity in Income                       still significant percentage for drivers     respectively,59 had declined drastically
                                                                                         by 2017.60 Similarly, incentive
                                            of cabs (about 20 percent, based on
 The “gig” or “flexible” labels that are    interview data). However, they barely        structures offered by Zomato and
 associated with platform work may          played a part in home service platforms      Swiggy too had become significantly
 suggest that platform workers take on      such as Housejoy and Urban Company,          less favorable by 2019.61 Indeed,
 this work part time or in addition to      or for an ecommerce service like             many worker strikes and attempts at
 other work they undertake. However,        Flipkart.                                    organisation among platform workers,
 workers were overwhelmingly                                                             in various parts of India, since that time
 working full time on these platforms       Incentive amounts and offers                 have been related to this drop.62
 (with Dunzo, Housejoy, and some            also change weekly, monthly and
 occupations on Urban Company               seasonally, and at short notice: food        Labour Insecurity
                                            delivery workers are offered incentives
 the exceptions) and were mainly
 dependent on the platforms for their       during festival seasons and cricket          and Precarity in
 livelihood. Further, the asset-light       matches, but they also vary for less         Working Conditions
 business model of platforms shifts to      predictable reasons such as the
 the worker daily expenses like fuel        platform’s expansion into new areas or       The platform economy as it is currently
 and maintenance costs, unexpected          investor pressure to stop cash burn.57       structured offers workers no job
 costs including traffic fines and towing   At any given time, incentive offers also     security in the longer term and this
 charges, and fixed capital costs. It is    vary based on the worker’s registered        presents a fundamental precarity
 against this backdrop that the nature      geographical location within the             in their work (conditions). But
 of precarity in income for platform        city. Furthermore, even at the same          conversations with workers revealed
 workers must be understood.                location, and in the same time period,       that they were not assured of a job
                                            incentives may vary across workers           even in the shorter term, with workers
20   |   Fairwork India Ratings 2020

 on some platforms, including Zomato,         they are subsumed under the                 their delivery workers both directly69
 Ola and Uber complaining that they           “unorganised” label or an altogether        and through labour contractors such as
 had experienced temporary ID blocks          new category). Such ambiguities add         Blowhorn, Bikeninja and Shadowfax.70
 and permanent suspensions without            to the precarity of these workers’
 the means to appeal these decisions.         positions in the labour market. Critics     A more recent phenomenon is of data
 The growing automation and opacity of        argue that the broader landscape of         contractors such as Betterplace who
 worker management systems further            labour regulations in India and recent      process worker data for platform
 complicates the process of redressal         shifts—especially the consolidation of      companies. This raises additional
 appeal.63                                    a range of labour laws into four labour     concerns about the security and
                                              codes which have been perceived by          privacy of worker data. While the data
 One of the benefits that is often            labour unions and others as diluting        collected by platforms from workers
 associated with working on platforms         existing provisions of these laws for       is cause for concern even without
 is the “flexibility.” It supposedly offers   all workers—further reinforce this          subcontracting, concerns about how
 workers the ability to choose when           precarity.67                                worker data is collected, used, stored,
 and how many hours they work for                                                         shared with or sold to third parties,
 and when. While some of the workers
 did mention this as an advantage, the
                                              Lack of work-identity                       or how accessible it is to workers
                                                                                          themselves should they wish to port
 interviews also drive home the point         and precarity                               or transfer their work experience
 that workers work unpredictable
 and long hours to achieve an income
                                              through contracting                         with other job providers, or check
                                                                                          the veracity of their data, are thrown
 that can sustain them. Most workers          In addition to the ambiguity of worker      into sharper relief with the entry of
 interviewed worked much longer               classification brought up earlier, there    subcontractors.71
 than the legally permissible 48 hour-        is a further issue around contracts
 week (without overtime wages).               that emerges for platform workers.
 Moreover, these hours were not always        Increasingly, components of the
 predictable and could also involve long      platform supply chain are being
 periods of waiting between orders            contracted out to entities outside of the
 (for which they were not paid). Finally,     platform company. Furthermore, these
 not everyone had equal control over          subcontracting models are still evolving
 how long or when they worked. A              (and rapidly so). Interviews and desk
 female Swiggy worker pointed out that        research suggest the prevalence of at
 female workers on the platform were          least two types of subcontracting: that
 automatically logged out at 6:00 pm64        of labour and of data.                      “Most workers
 based on the platform’s belief that this
 would ensure their safety.65                 Subcontracting of the first type is of      interviewed worked
 In addition to the long-term health
                                              interest because it further increases
                                              the distance between workers and the        much longer
 consequences66 of working such long
 hours, workers are also faced with
                                              platform, which has implications for
                                              their working conditions, payment, and
                                                                                          than the legally
 more immediate health concerns
 arising out of accidents and physical
                                              mechanisms of grievance redressal.          permissible 48
                                              A van driver for Amazon who worked
 harm (including being mugged) during         for a contractor said his insurance         hour-week (without
 the provision of services. The lack of
 reliable insurance­—and one that is
                                              was determined by his contractor,
                                              who decided not to provide it. A            overtime wages).”
 not restricted only to severe cases—         Swiggy worker who worked through
 compounds this issue as the Zomato           Shadowfax68 said he was concerned
 group interview in the previous section      how to reach out to Shadowfax in case
 indicated.                                   he had issues with his order. In such
                                              cases, it is also difficult to determine
 The very location of platform
                                              at what stage of the order a platform
 companies within the Indian regulatory
                                              hands off to subcontractors and
 landscape is the reason for some of
                                              whether the customer encounters
 this precarity in workers’ conditions.
                                              the platform’s brand or the
 As mentioned earlier, it is unclear
                                              subcontractor’s. Furthermore, platform
 which laws and regulations cover
                                              companies deploy many of these
 platforms (technology only or domain
                                              contracting models in parallel, further
 regulations as well), and platform
                                              complicating issues of accessibility
 workers (independent contractors,
                                              and accountability for workers. For
 employees or self-employed; whether
                                              instance, Amazon and Flipkart hire
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