In News:

• Niti Aayog, the Government of India's think tank, recently released a report titled "India's Booming Gig and Platform Economy."
• In an effort to increase women's participation in the gig economy, the report proposed fiscal incentives such as tax breaks or startup grants for companies with about one-third of their workforce made up of women and people with disabilities. 

What’s in today’s article:

• About Gig and Platform economy
• About the ‘India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy’ report

About Gig and Platform economy:

• Gig economy:
  • Temporary, flexible jobs are common in a gig economy and companies prefer to hire independent contractors and freelancers over full-time employees.
  • A gig economy results in cheaper, more efficient services for those willing to use them, such as Uber or Airbnb.
  • A gig economy undermines the traditional economy of full-time workers, who frequently prioritise career advancement.
  • People who do not use technological services like the internet may miss out on the benefits of the gig economy.
• Platform economy:
  • The platform economy refers to the trend of commerce increasingly attracted toward and favouring digital platform business models.
  • Platforms are underlying computer systems that can host services that connect consumers, entrepreneurs, businesses and the general public by sharing resources or selling products.
  • Business analysts use this term to describe the competitive nature of digital innovation. 

Key Observations of The ‘India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy’ report:

• Structural barriers like access to education and lack of skilling have hindered participation of the two demographic groups (women and divyangjan) in the country’s labour force.
  • The female labour force participation in India has remained low, oscillating between 16 - 23% in the last few years.
    • Women are more likely to take up platform jobs after their education and marriage.
  • Similarly, persons with disabilities (PwDs), who make up for 2.11% of India’s population, have a labour force participation rate of 36%.
• Gig workers are typically hired by companies on a contractual basis and are not considered employees. They do not receive some of the benefits that a regular staff does.
  • Gig workers can be broadly classified into platform and non-platform workers.
    • Platform workers are those whose work is based on online software apps or digital platforms, while non-platform gig workers are generally casual wage workers, working part-time or full- time.
• Niti Aayog estimates that more than 7.5 million workers were engaged in the gig economy in 2020-21.
• This could grow to 23.5 million workers in the next eight years, making up for 4.1% of total workforce in India.
• At present, about 47% of the gig work is in medium skilled jobs, about 22% in high skilled and about 31% in low skilled jobs.

Niti Aayog’s recommendations for the gig economy:

• Fiscal incentives such as tax-breaks or startup grants may be provided for businesses that provide livelihood opportunities where women constitute a substantial portion (30%) of their workers.
• Similarly, a platform with high accessibility or high degree of participation of PwDs too may be rewarded with fiscal incentives.
• Businesses should have a higher share of women managers and supervisors in the organisation to ensure that communication to workers does not perpetuate gender stereotypes.
• Firms should adopt policies that offer old age or retirement plans and benefits and other insurance cover for contingencies such as injury arising from work that may lead to loss of employment and income.
  • Such plans and policies could be designed and offered in collaboration with the government, as envisaged under the Code on Social Security, 2020.

Concluding remarks by Niti Aayog:

• While gig and platform companies have created employment opportunities, they are frequently marred by low wages, unequal gender participation and a lack of opportunities for advancement within an organisation.
• This has triggered protests from workers of companies like Swiggy, Zomato, Ola, Uber, Urban Company, etc.