Karnataka's Gig Workers Act Draws Over 11 Firms, Registers 12 Lakh Workers

Karnataka Gig Workers Act: 11 Companies Onboard, Government Plans Quarterly Welfare Fee Collection

The Karnataka government has made significant progress in implementing the Karnataka Platform-Based Gig Workers (Social Security and Welfare) Act, 2025, with 11 companies and aggregators, including Uber and Zepto, onboarded so far. As part of the initiative, the government plans to collect workers' welfare fee quarterly from July.

The list of onboarded companies includes Uber, Zepto, Amazon, Swiggy, Porter, and Namma Yatri. Ride aggregator Uber has reported the highest number of active gig workers, at 2.87 lakh. Mobility firm Moving Tech Innovations Private Ltd, the parent company of Namma Yatri, reported 2.24 lakh workers, followed by Zepto Limited with a combined workforce of 1.64 lakh active gig workers.

The government plans to collect workers' welfare fee quarterly from July, with most aggregators agreeing to join. "We are planning to collect workers' welfare fee quarterly from July. Most aggregators have agreed to join. We are expecting more platforms to come on board in the coming days," said G Manjunath, additional labour commissioner (industrial relations) and Karnataka Platform-Based Gig Workers Social Security and Welfare Board chairman.

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Records accessed by Moneycontrol show that 11 registered firms together account for 12.19 lakh active gig workers. These workers had worked with these firms in the 90 days leading up to registration.

In the logistics segment, SmartShift Logistics Solutions Pvt Ltd (Porter) accounted for 1.03 lakh workers. Zomato parent Eternal had 91,068 workers, while Blink Commerce Pvt Ltd, which operates Blinkit, had 30,546 workers.

The state labour department fixed the welfare fee at 1 percent of payouts, subject to sector-specific caps. The welfare fee will be calculated on the final payout to the gig worker in each transaction.

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The Karnataka government issued an order on February 16, mandating collection of a welfare fee from aggregators and digital platforms under the Karnataka Platform-Based Gig Workers (Social Security and Welfare) Act, 2025. The state labour department fixed the welfare fee at 1 percent of payouts, subject to sector-specific caps.