Pension: On February 1, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman made a significant announcement regarding gig workers, including freelancers, delivery personnel, and cab drivers, during the presentation of the general budget. This initiative aims to provide various benefits, including health coverage, to gig workers, and the implementation process has already commenced.
Will soon seek the Union Cabinet’s approval
The Labor Ministry has indicated that it will soon seek the Union Cabinet’s approval for a pension scheme intended for one crore gig workers engaged with online platforms. An official source revealed that contributions to the social security scheme will be derived from the income generated through each transaction.
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Ministry of Labor is developing a framework
According to a media report, the Ministry of Labor is developing a framework whereby online platforms such as Zomato, Swiggy, Ola, and Uber will be required to deduct a percentage of social security contributions from the earnings of these workers for every transaction. The source further explained that under this scheme, workers will have two options upon retirement regarding their pension: they may either withdraw the interest accrued on their deposits or receive the total amount in equal installments over a specified duration.
However, the specific contribution amount for the social security scheme has yet to be determined. It is also noted that gig workers may operate on multiple platforms concurrently.
Expenditure Secretary Manoj Goel stated that the parameters and specifics of the scheme are being developed in collaboration with the Ministry of Labor and other relevant ministries. He mentioned that the social security scheme for gig workers could either be a fully central government initiative or a centrally sponsored program, with costs shared between the central and state governments in a 60:40 ratio.
In her budget address, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also announced that the government would facilitate the issuance of identity cards and registration for gig workers through the e-shram platform, in addition to providing them with healthcare services under the PM Jan Arogya Yojana.employees providing delivery services for e-commerce companies etc. come under the category of ‘gig’ workers.