The Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government’s marquee legislation, the Rajasthan Platform Based Gig Workers (Registration and Welfare) Bill, 2023, which puts up stringent punitive provisions against errant aggregators, might not materialise before the elections in the State.
The bill was passed by the State assembly in July this year and was hailed as the first of its kind in the country since it establishes an employee-employer relationship between the gig workers and the platforms, such as Zomato, Swiggy, Uber et al.
However, once the Election Commission announces the poll dates, the governments are bound by the model code of conduct not to notify any new rules or make announcements that could influence the voters.
The rules to make the law functional are caught in a bureaucratic quagmire. The bill empowers the government to impose a cess which would be a percentage of every transaction that takes place on the platform. This cess is to finance a social welfare fund for the workers.
EDITORIAL | Promising Bill: On the Rajasthan Platform-based Gig Workers (Registration and Welfare) Bill, 2023
It also has punitive provisions such as fines up to ten lakhs for the first contravention and up to a ₹one crore for subsequent ones. The errant aggregator can be temporarily or permanently barred under the law for any flagrant violations.
But without the rules in place, none of these punitive provisions can be invoked nor the cess can be collected. According to the sources, the rules have been finalised but are currently under review with the state finance department.
“We have opened the registration process for the gig workers. And the Chief Minister has already announced a one-time payment of ₹5,000 to each of the registered workers as a starter fund, that can help them buy safety equipment and other instruments required for their job,” State Secretary, Labour Department, Vikas Bhale told The Hindu. The ₹5,000 payout will be financed by ₹200 crore seed fund that the assembly had approved while clearing the bill.
In addition, the State has also notified the Rajasthan Platform Based Gig Workers Welfare Board - that will function as a mothership for over three lakh gig workers. The gig-workers are to be registered with this board - which will create a unique id for them to help them various welfare schemes such as accident or unemployment insurance.
The three lakh gig workers on average are between the age of 20-35 and politically the Congress government was hoping to cement its approval in this segment. But so far, sources said, that registration rate is very slow and the awareness among the workers about such a law is also low.
