Even as gig and platform workers form the backbone of several companies that control their incentives, pay and working hours, companies do not have to comply with labour standards for workers’ occupational health, safety or working conditions under India’s labour codes. This makes gig workers more susceptible to extreme climate events, our reporting found.

The Code on Social Security defines and includes gig workers, but its implementation is unclear, and the lack of mention of gig workers in the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code (OSH, 2020), puts them at risk of climate impacts on health, productivity and earnings.

This is the fourth part of our series on how India’s new labour codes have a climate blindspot, which particularly impacts women workers. You can read the first three parts here, here and here.

Ganga (name changed), a 43-year-old gig worker based in Faridabad, is a “partner” with Urban Company. She was first drawn to gig work about a decade ago due to its flexibility of working hours and a decent income. But now, the nature of work has changed. Ganga said Urban Company guarantees a monthly income of Rs 45,000 if they are available for 80 hours on weekdays between 11am and 6pm and on weekends. “I am available for work 6-12 hours a day, including weekends…I typically earn between Rs 30,000-40,000 a month.”

The main problem, Ganga said, are gig cancellations. “We are allowed to cancel four bookings in 28 days. If we cross this limit, we will be sent for re-training or access to the app will be paused for a few days,” she said. Previously she had the option of choosing to accept a booking. “Now, we are automatically assigned one, limiting our flexibility.”

Ganga works in a 7 km radius around her home, and uses a scooter for commuting. She recalled an incident in May this year when the roads were inundated due to heavy rains. “I raised a ticket for cancellation of a booking. The Help Centre told me they had not received a weather update and that I have to be on time at the client’s residence or cancel the booking myself. Fortunately, the customer cancelled the booking.” “Urban Company calls us ‘partners’, but we do not feel like one.”

If there is low flexibility to choose and cancel jobs, experts told us, and reports show, many workers continue to commute to client homes in conditions of extreme heat, impacting health and productivity. Women are particularly prone to the ill-effects of heatwaves, as we reported in the first part of this series.

We have reached out to Urban Company to understand their policy on working hours for partners, incentives for work, and policy regarding extreme weather events. We will update the story when we receive a response.

Because this kind of work is recent, the new labour codes for the first time in India recognised gig and platform workers as a separate category. The code on social security defines a gig worker as a person who performs work or participates in and earns from a work arrangement outside of the traditional employer-employee relationship. Platform work is defined as a work arrangement outside of the traditional employer-employee relationship, in which organisations, or individuals, use an online platform to access other organisations, or individuals, to provide specific services in exchange of payment.

“Questions have also been raised regarding the legal status of gig workers, who, despite being recognised under the Code, continue to remain outside the traditional employer-employee relationship, potentially limiting the extent of protection available to them,” wrote Rishikesh Kumar, an associate at Common Cause, a governance reform and accountability think tank, on their website, in April-June 2026.

"As a result, they are generally not covered by labour standards on working hours, rest breaks, overtime, or workplace welfare provisions, such as access to washrooms and drinking water, that apply to employees under labour laws,” Nitesh Kumar Das, organising secretary of the Gig Workers Association told ISignal.

Anjana Karumathil, associate professor of practice, organisational behaviour and human resources, at the Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode, agreed. “So long as these codes remain centred in traditional employment models and gig work exists in very fragmented and informal arrangements, all the benefits will remain sporadic, and protection remains very weak.”

The gig economy includes diverse work, from ride hailing and transport to food delivery, beauty services and domestic work. Gig work is growing; from 7.7 million workers in 2020-21 to 12 million in 2024-25. It is expected to employ 23.5 million workers by 2029-30. Women constitute 28% of the workers, according to Taskmo, a tech-driven on-demand task fulfillment platform that helps businesses, corporates, personal brands, and start-ups employ gig workers.

“Women in the platform economy can face distinct risks, particularly in forms of work that require them to enter private homes,” explained Prachi Sharma, research manager at Future Shift Labs, a global think-tank. Therefore, she added, occupational safety, working conditions, and risks of violence and harassment are different than in a usual workplace.

ISignal reached out to the Ministry of Labour and Employment as well as to state labour departments in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Karnataka for comment on protecting gig workers. We will update this report when we receive a response.

Climate impacts exacerbate problems caused by long working hours

The Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions or OSH code, 2020 (OSH code, 2020) mandates that no worker should work for more than eight hours in a day and more than six days in a week.

But “the labour codes do not set a legal limit on how many hours gig and platform workers can stay logged into an app. There is no statutory overtime pay if they work 12–14 hours a day, and there is no legal requirement for mandatory rest breaks or a weekly holiday,” said Das of the Gig Workers Association.

A September 2026 report from Janpahal, a Delhi-based not-for-profit organisation, surveyed 1,000 platform workers across 10 cities in India, and found that 57% of the respondents reported working more than 49 hours a week, and 23% worked for more than 70 hours a week, above the 48-hour weekly limit set by the labour codes. Unlike salaried employees, platform workers’ earnings are tightly linked to their continuous availability and rapid task completion.

Also, algorithmic penalties, rating systems, and fear of deactivation discourages workers from logging off during heatwaves, heavy rain or flooding, experts say and reports show. A 2026 report on gig workers by HeatWatch, an organisation working on climate adaptation, found that 71% of the women surveyed worked all seven days of the week during summer, and 65% had only one break or none during the working day. With time-bound delivery mandates and incentive-linked earnings, the apps (which mediate platform work) can penalise workers for slowing down, even in extreme heat, the report found.

Other platforms like Snabbit and Pronto, quick-service apps offering on-demand home services, allow people to work full-time or part-time, where workers can choose to work for 4 hours, 6 hours, 8 hours or 12 hours depending on their availability.

“Urban Company requires us to work at least for 6 hours a day. The maximum number of hours we can choose to work is 13 hours daily,” Ganga said. Ganga said she chooses to also work on weekends, and as she has been doing it for sometime, she does not find it tiring. The company asks partners to be available for at least 14 hours on weekends over the period of a month.

Platform-based apps, however, typically incentivise working extra hours, explained Dharmendra Kumar, secretary of Janpahal. For instance, it could promise additional income if they accept another booking, he said. “This compels them to work even when heat exposure could be disastrous for their health.”

Ganga says Urban Company offers no incentives like this. “If our customer ratings are 4.9 and above, we qualify to be a part of Luxe services (a more premium service), which offer higher earnings. “Once we get low ratings, it takes a long time to bounce back. My friend working in Gurgaon, who is part of Luxe, earns more than Rs 80,000 a month.”

Ganga said she gets 24 days of unpaid leaves in a year, which are not penalised. She is allowed to take one unpaid emergency leave a month, without penalty.

We have reached out to Urban Company, Pronto and Snabbit on protections for gig workers, and their incentive systems and will update the story when we receive a response.

The long work hours take a toll. The Janpahal survey found that 64.5% reported experiencing fatigue and sleep disruption. Nearly half reported musculoskeletal pain, including back and neck pain, likely linked to prolonged riding, sitting, or carrying loads.

The impacts of climate change and extreme weather events pile on, with 75.5% reporting facing moderate to severe impact of heat on their productivity and safety, the Janpahal survey found. Half of the respondents experienced dehydration, 62% had heat exhaustion and 49% dealt with severe overheating.

The 2026 report by HeatWatch on women gig workers found that even though nearly 36% reported feeling faint or fainting, 57% reported dehydration and 47% reported nausea or vomiting, only 18% sought treatment from a doctor, clinic, or hospital while 69% reduced or stopped work because of heat-related illness. Among women who continued working while unwell, 70% cited at least one form of platform-control pressure, while (56%) cited at least one form of financial pressure, the report found.

The rules for OSH code, 2020 direct employers of a factory to provide suitable atmosphere, enough air circulation and protect workers from excessive heat, cold and extreme weather. But these provisions are absent for gig workers. “Unfortunately, our labour codes do not see private homes as work sites,” said Kumar of Janpahal. Denying basic facilities, such as washrooms, is an unfair labour practice, he said.

For gig and platform workers, the city is the workplace. “The question is whether our cities are ready. Do we have enough clean, hygienic washrooms, drinking water or rest centres?” asked Das.

A 2024 survey of 166 gig and platform workers in Hyderabad highlighted that 40% of the workers reported having no access to clean and cold drinking water while working. More than 60% lacked access to clean washrooms, while more than 80% said they could not find room for resting, shade or access to cooling facilities like fans.

Some platforms, like Pronto, say on their website that they have ‘hubs’ where workers can rest and use washrooms.

Ganga, the Urban Company worker, said some of her clients let her use washrooms and provide her with drinking water. “Sometimes, I use washrooms in petrol pumps but they are often unhygienic,” she said.

“Women workers often wait on the streets as they await booking. Clients do not allow them to wait at homes, apartments or in residential societies,” said Kumar of Janpahal. He further adds that when women workers visit clients' homes, clients sometimes refuse access to air conditioners and washrooms. Unpaid care responsibilities, unsafe waiting spaces, and unsuitable mandatory uniforms add to the physical and psychological burden, according to the 2026 report by HeatWatch.

Shaik Salauddin, founder president, Telangana Gig and Platform Workers Union, and the founder and National General Secretary of the Indian Federation of App-Based Transport Workers, stressed that platform companies should take on the responsibility for sharing data on where toilets, water centres, rest centres and first-aid kits are available.

“Platform companies are earning from the hard work of gig and platform workers. They should give a heat bonus for people working from 12 noon to 4 p.m. Every 3-5 km, platform companies should provide rest rooms with clean drinking water supply and toilets for workers,” he suggested.

In 2025, recognising that gig workers operate largely outdoors and are disproportionately exposed to extreme heat, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) issued an advisory. It asked all platforms and aggregators to suspend mandatory work for platform and gig workers between 11 am and 4 pm when the India Meteorological Department declares orange (severe heat alert for the day) and red alerts (extreme heat alert for the day) in their respective cities or regions. The NDMA advisory also called for shorter shift options, with sufficient cooling breaks, heat-protection kits for workers, and asked that companies provide workers the option to opt out of shifts, without penalties. It also suggests at least two emergency leave days during summer, and a minimum of three for women, without any penalties.

“This is an advisory. There is no mechanism for compensating workers for loss of income during peak heat hours,” Kumar of Janpahal explained. Without such protections, he adds, workers have no option but to work for survival.

The 2026 HeatWatch report found that 71% of the workers reported a decline in income during the summer and 89% reported borrowing, delaying payments, or cutting household expenditure to cope with summer-related financial pressure. Further, 74% received no heatwave-related support from their platform.

Five states have introduced legislation for gig workers. Four states -- Karnataka (2025), Telangana (2026), Jharkhand (2024) and Bihar (2025) mandate the aggregator to provide and maintain, as far as reasonably possible, a working environment that is safe and without risk to the health of the worker. Rajasthan (2023) does not have this provision. “This is broadly framed [for states that have a provision]. The state laws do not specify maximum hours, rest breaks or overtime compensation or heat stress,” Das said.

Karnataka also calls for providing adequate periods of rest during the work day and work week, access to sanitary and rest facilities, including reasonable travel time to and from such facilities. Bihar mandates that an aggregator or platform engaging 100 or more gig or platform workers within a district establish designated rest points at key locations. ISignal has reached out to Urban Company, Pronto and Snabbit about rest centres for gig workers. We will update the story when we receive a response.

Minimum wages and social security for gig workers

In June 2026, when the International Labour Organisation (ILO) adopted the first global labour standard dedicated to platform work – the ILO Convention on decent work in the platform economy – India abstained.

“During the negotiations, countries such as India and Bangladesh raised concerns that were, in some respects, aligned with those of employers, particularly around regulatory burden and implementation,” explained Sharma of the think tank Future Shift Labs and author of a 2026 policy report on the issue. These countries, she added, emphasised that overly prescriptive obligations could impose significant compliance costs in developing economies with large informal workforces and diverse platform models.

The Convention calls on member states to ensure that digital platform workers enjoy fundamental rights at work, including freedom of association and collective bargaining, and the right to a safe and healthy working environment. Still, it allows countries considerable discretion regarding classification of gig and platform workers, enforcement mechanisms, social protection and regulation of algorithmic management.

Under the adopted Convention, each country would have to take measures to ensure that digital platform workers in an employment relationship receive remuneration that is in no case lower than the negotiated minimum wage. It also allows countries to “give consideration” to providing the same provisions to digital platform workers who are not in an employment relationship.

The Code on Wages, 2019, provides for a universal minimum wage for workers, including gig workers, Bhupender Yadav, the then Minister of Labour and Employment had told the Lok Sabha in 2021.

However, experts are unsure about how this can be extended to gig workers. “The statement in the Lok Sabha appears to have no legal basis,” explained Kumar of Janpahal. Of the four labour Codes, he added, only one Code –the Code on Social Security – talks about gig workers. “Other Codes are not applicable for gig workers,” Kumar said.

Then, there are other uncertainties with respect to minimum wage for gig workers. Under the Code on Wages, the government fixes a minimum rate of wages based on time-work or piece work, taking into account the skill of workers such as unskilled, skilled, semi-skilled and highly-skilled. “There is no clarity as to how to make this operational for the gig workers who work on a flexible mode under multiple platforms,” wrote Deepika M G, professor, Department of Economics at Alliance University, Bangalore, for the website of the National Law School of India Review.

Complications exist even for workers engaged in a single platform. For example, the Code on Wages states that no “employer shall pay to any employee wages less than the minimum rate of wages”. However, gig workers exist outside the “traditional employer-employee relationship” as per the Code on Social Security, 2020. This raises questions on who is legally responsible for providing minimum wages to gig workers. Workers need to have an explicit employer to get minimum wages, explains Kingshuk Sarkar, professor and chair for general management and public policy at the Goa Institute of Management.

A 2023 report by the Institute of Social Studies Trust, a non-profit research and educational organisation, flags a loophole: while minimum wages are fixed on the basis of piece-work (work done by producing pieces) or time work (based on the time spent working), there is no explanation for setting minimum wages for completion of a ‘gig’. However, a 2024 working draft of the Model Law for Platform Based Gig Workers by Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy disagrees, arguing that the current labour codes already support minimum wage standards for an industry similar to that of the gig economy. It explained that piece rate workers get paid based on the number of pieces they produce, which is similar to gig workers getting paid based on the number of gigs they perform, and that a previous Supreme Court judgement has also supported overtime based on the piece-rate.

But unions instead demand that gig workers be compensated at the rate of minimum wage for ideal time, said Kumar of Janpahal. Ideal time, he explained, is when a worker is waiting for a booking after having logged into the app and reported for duty.

Among states with gig worker legislations, only Jharkhand defines “minimum remuneration” as minimum payment a platform-based gig worker is entitled to receive, calculated based on the “time spent” and “distance travelled” for each task performed. It also mandates the platform to provide a clear detailed breakdown of the remuneration, including how it was calculated, to the gig worker.

Ganga says that after the 25-30% commission Urban Company deducts from her earnings, she earns a monthly income of about Rs 30,000- 40,000 (Rs 1,000-1333 a day), which is above the basic minimum wage rate for highly skilled workers in Haryana (Rs 747.14 a day). But she also spends between Rs 2000 and Rs 2,500 on buying beauty products she uses for her services, making an effective income of Rs 20,000-30,000 a month.

On October 12, 2026, Urban Company put out new information on its website on commissions and penalties. It said that it would cap commissions at 25%, with a range of 8.5% to 25% with the maximum for highest value services. They said they were also removing any automatic blocks on partners, apart from when customers complain of quality, and capping penalties at Rs 1,500 a month.

According to Urban Company, the average monthly net earnings in hand for all active service partners stood at Rs 28,322 (Rs 944 a day) for 2025-26. The top 5% of service professionals earned Rs 51,673 per month. Snabbit says workers can earn up to Rs 45,000 per month, with Pronto promising up to Rs 55,000 a month. ISignal could not confirm this with gig workers who work with Snabbit and Pronto as they refused to speak on the matter.

Then, there is social security. “When people fall sick, healthcare costs escalate. In such cases, social security is not just a benefit, but an economic necessity,” explains Karumathil. For instance, “When workers suffer heatstroke, they cannot work for a week. Who will pay for loss of pay for six days? Neither the government nor platform companies give this,” said Salauddin of the Telangana gig workers association.

Snabbit says it provides “experts” health insurance coverage of up to Rs 6 lakh while Pronto provides health coverage up to Rs 2 lakh. Urban Company's website says that it provides Partners with an insurance cover of Rs 2 lakh, covering family medical insurance for spouse and two children and up to 12 free medical consultations per year.

Ganga said she is part of Urban Company’s group health insurance policy, which covers health issues linked to exposure on the job. She said she is also eligible for the Ayushman Bharat – Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, a government health scheme that provides up to ₹5 lakh per family annually for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation. She also said that Urban Company has recently started the National Pension Scheme, a government-backed retirement savings scheme for partners. Those who sign up will have to contribute up to Rs 100 per booking.

Under the Code on Social Security, 2020, aggregators like Urban Company or Blinkit are required to contribute 1-2% of their annual turnover (capped at 5% of payments made or payable to gig/platform workers) to a Social Security Fund, which will finance a range of welfare schemes for workers. The fund could be supported by Union and state governments, as well as through Corporate Social Responsibility contributions.

To get social security benefits, all unorganised, gig, and platform workers will have to register themselves on a national portal, the e-Shram portal, to get a unique identification number.

In April, Urban Company had asked Ganga to come to their office for registering on the e-Shram portal but they did not explain why the registration was needed and how it would help. As she would have had to spend the whole day traveling to the office, she chose to register on the portal on her own. Gig and platform workers can also self-register on the e-Shram portal. The portal does not have a separate category for gig workers, but has a category called Beauty and Wellness, with 2.2 million registered workers.

In a January 2026 response in the Rajya Sabha to a question on social security for gig workers, Shobha Karandlaje, the Minister of State in the labour ministry, said that e-Shram has 858,422 gig and platform workers registrations, but she did not specify how many were female workers.

But registering does not mean an automatic entitlement, Das, of the Gig Workers Association, explained, as the implementation of schemes are left to future policy decisions. The Code on Social Security, 2020 says that the Union government “may” frame and notify suitable social security schemes relating to life and disability cover, accident insurance, health and maternity benefits, old age protection and crèche, for gig and platform workers.

In addition, the Code on Social Security also states that the Union government may frame schemes for unorganised workers, gig workers and platform workers and the members of their families for providing benefits under the Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC). As we explained in the second part of this series, ESI performs two functions: First, income protection through cash transfers during sickness, maternity, temporary or permanent disability, occupational disease, or unemployment. Second, it finances healthcare, determines coverage and payment for treatment and direct delivery of healthcare through its own hospitals and dispensaries.

Ashok Kumar Singh, director general of ESIC, explained that they are planning to cover gig and platform workers under the scheme. “It is in the design stage,” he said. He also said that ESIC is considering including unorganised workers.

Das called this an important step but argues that by itself, it cannot prevent unsafe working conditions. “Extending ESI to gig workers should be accompanied by a stronger occupational health and safety framework that regulates working hours and intensity, and protection from climate risks.”

Ganga is not aware of these developments but she hopes the Code on Social Security, 2020, delivers. She would like to get a pension, but for now she would settle for rest centres, with clean drinking water and rest rooms, set up by Urban Company.

This report is republished with permission from ISignal, formerly IndiaSpend, a data-driven, public-interest journalism non-profit. It has been lightly edited for style and clarity.