New report explores opportunities for EBMO engagement with gig and platform work in India

On 4 April, the ILO launched its latest report, “Expansion of the Gig and Platform Economy in India Opportunities for Employer and Business Member Organizations”. Gig and platform work has emerged as a key employment generator globally and in India. NITI Aayog estimates that the sector had 7.7 million workers in 2020, and the number is set to triple to 23.5 million by 2029 – 30. The sector has also led to drastically shifting work arrangement practices in the last few years, giving rise to new issues relating to employment, to which Employers and Business Membership Organizations (EBMOs) globally have traditionally responded within a regulated framework.

The COVID-19 pandemic significantly disrupted the Indian economy and labour market. In this context, the report examines the emerging employment relationships and conditions of work within the platform economy and the role that EBMOs can play, in conjunction with platform companies, workers, and governments, in improving labour conditions for a fairer and just platform economy.

As the regulatory landscape and thinking on the various aspects of worker welfare within the platform economy is still nascent and developing in India, the report calls for a greater role of institutions such as EBMOs in shaping social dialogue and organizing institutional efforts to address the challenges posed by the gig and platform economy.

An important suggestion the report makes is the need for EBMOs to break out of the traditional mandate of operating within the employer-employee framework to consider moving into broader work relationship advisory services.

This report is part of a larger, three-country South Asian study, which explores the opportunities for EBMOs in the gig and platform economy in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. The India study was conducted by ACTEMP in collaboration with the All India Organisation of Employers (AIOE) and Employers’ Federation of India (EFI).