5 popular digital platforms likes of Ola and Uber, Dunzo, PharmEasy and Amazon Flex have the lowest scores in a rating of digital platforms on the basis of providing fair working conditions for gig workers (temporary or freelance work).
The rating of 12 digital platforms was done by a Fairwork India team in association with the Oxford University.
Fairwork evaluates the work conditions of digital labour platforms internationally.
Fairwork India Ratings 2022 Report, which assess platforms against 5 principles:
- Fair Pay,
- Fair Conditions,
- Fair Contracts,
- Fair Management,
- Fair Representation.
Found that Amazon Flex, Dunzo, Ola, PharmEasy and Uber score zero out of 10 points.
As per report :
“This year, no platform scored more than seven out of the maximum of ten points, and none scored all the first points across the five principles,”.
The Fairwork India Ratings 2022 evaluate 12 platforms which includes Amazon Flex, Big Basket, Dunzo, Flipkart, Ola, PharmEasy, Porter, Swiggy, Uber, Urban Company, Zepto and Zomato.
Each of the five principles is broken down into two points, a first point and a second point that can only be award if the first point has been fulfill.
Every platform receives a score out of 10.
Urban Company score the most, 7 out of 10, follow by Big Basket (6/10), Flipkart (5/10), Swiggy (5/10), Zomato (4/10), Zepto (2/10), and Porter (1/10).
“In the eyes of the law, gig workers are independent contractors, which means they are not entitle to labour rights in a manner that unorganize workers or employees are.
Professor Balaji Parthasarathy, Principal Investigator of the team Said :
“A starting point to improve their working condition would be to ensure that they receive at least the hourly minimum wage, after considering work-related costs, and ensuring that the demands they make through collective action are heard, acknowledge and consider by the platforms,”.
The Fairwork India Team was spearhead by the Centre for IT and Public Policy (CITAPP), International Institute of Information Technology Bangalore (IIIT-B), in association with Oxford University.
This report examines the work conditions of platform workers on digital labour platforms in India.
It evaluates 12 platforms offering location-based services in sectors such as domestic and personal care, logistics, food delivery, e-pharmacy, and transportation, in India.
As per reports :
“Even with workers and worker groups repeatedly emphasising the importance of a stable income for platform workers, platforms have reluctant to publicly commit to, and operationalise, a minimum-wage policy,”.
In 2022, Big Basket, Flipkart, and Urban Company implement and operationalise policies to ensure that all workers on these platforms earn at least the hourly local minimum wage after factoring in work-related costs.
