The council will have 15 members with representation from the government, concert workers, aggregators and civil society | Photo Credit: K. MURALI KUMAR
The State Government is set to move forward with the creation of a Gig Workers Welfare Board, with a committee likely to be set up by January 27 to work out the details. The government has decided to levy a social fee of 1% to 1.5% with an upper limit on aggregator platforms.
“The state government will collect social cess of 1% to 1.5% from aggregators,” Labor Minister Santosh Lad confirmed to The Hindu. He added that the social charge will vary across industries, with taxis and transport aggregators treated differently than food delivery and other app-based platforms, and calibrated based on each aggregator’s business model.
Low initial fee
The relatively low levy is aimed at ensuring a permanent welfare fund for gig workers without overburdening the platforms, Mr Lad said, adding that a meeting was held with all the major platforms and the decision was taken taking into account all legitimate concerns.
Under the Karnataka Platform Gig Workers (Social Security and Welfare) Act, the welfare board will have 15 members with representation from the government, gig workers, aggregators and civil society. The government will be represented by five members, including the labor minister, while gig workers and aggregators will have four representatives each, along with two members from civil society. The government has finalized the list.
Once the social fund starts receiving contributions, the Social Security Board will assess whether the amount collected is sufficient to provide social security benefits to gig workers. If the funds are found to be insufficient, the social charge can be revised upwards, up to a maximum of 5%. The fee is designed to vary between platforms to reflect differences in scale, revenue patterns and modes of operation, rather than applying a uniform rate to all aggregators.
Draft State Rules
The Department of Labor recently released draft rules for labor relations in Karnataka and is scheduled to release draft state rules on January 27 under the Wage Code, Social Security Code, 2020 and Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions (OSH Code). across sectors.
Published – 26 Jan 2026 19:00 IST
