Centre Sets Up National Social Security Boards for Unorganised, Gig and Platform Workers
The Ministry of Labour and Employment has notified two boards under the Code on Social Security, 2020: the National Social Security Board for Unorganised Workers and the National Social Security Board for Gig and Platform Workers.
Both boards are chaired by the Union Minister for Labour and Employment.
Members include representatives of the Central and State governments, aggregators (companies that run apps like food delivery or ride-hailing platforms), employers, civil society, workers' unions and associations of gig and platform workers.
Their job is to help design, monitor and recommend targeted welfare schemes for gig and platform workers and for traditional unorganised workers (such as street vendors, construction labourers and domestic workers).
They will also advise the Centre on running the Code, monitor central welfare schemes for these workers, review record-keeping by states and examine spending from the related funds.
The boards must meet at least three times a year. Actual benefits will depend on the schemes the government frames and puts in place.
Code on Social Security, 2020
The Code on Social Security, 2020 is one law that combines nine older social security laws. Social security means protection for workers against risks such as old age, illness, injury, death, job loss and childbirth. It is one of India's four labour codes, and it is the first national law that also covers unorganised, gig and platform workers.
The Code had provided for these boards since 2020, but they existed only on paper. With the notification, the advisory bodies needed to turn the Code's promises for unorganised and gig workers into actual schemes are now in place.
Gig and Platform Workers: Social Security in India's Gig Economy
A gig worker earns money from short, task-based work without being a regular employee. A platform worker is a gig worker who gets work through an app or website, like a delivery rider or a cab driver. The company that runs the app is called an aggregator. Because these workers are not "employees", they were earlier left out of provident fund, ESI and pension laws.
The new Board for Gig and Platform Workers is the body that will recommend schemes such as accident cover, health cover and pensions for these workers. It also brings aggregators and worker associations to the same table, so both sides shape how the 1-2% contribution is used.
- Boards notified: National Social Security Board for Unorganised Workers and National Social Security Board for Gig and Platform Workers
- Chairperson of both: Union Minister for Labour and Employment
- Minimum meetings: at least 3 times a year
- Legal base: Code on Social Security, 2020 (Section 6 for unorganised workers; Section 114 for gig and platform workers); most of the Code in force from 21 November 2025
- Code merges 9 earlier social security laws; one of 4 labour codes
- Aggregator contribution: 1-2% of annual turnover, capped at 5% of payments to gig and platform workers
- Gig workforce: 77 lakh (2020-21), projected 2.35 crore by 2029-30 (NITI Aayog, 2022)