Karnataka plans to introduce a 1-2% welfare fee on transactions across aggregator platforms such as Zomato, Swiggy, Zepto, Ola, Uber, Rapido, Amazon and Flipkart aimed at supporting gig workers.
“Rather than starting at 5%, which is proposed under the Central Social Security Code, we want to start slower at 1-2%,” Karnataka labour minister Santosh Lad told FE. The fee collected by platforms will be passed on to the consumers, increasing the cost on orders by ‘a few rupees’ per transaction, he added.
The fee will fund a welfare board that will design schemes for gig workers’ social security. Lad said that a sunset clause which has been introduced will prevent duplication with central government taxes under the social security code.
“We want aggregators to create a system where every transaction is monitored by them; we will only oversee it. All we will be looking at is the volume of financial transactions made to gig workers, and the deductions made for the welfare scheme,” he explained.
The state will collaborate with partners like IIT Bangalore and the Azim Premji Foundation to develop the necessary transaction-monitoring system.
Lad said that 32 meetings were held with 26 stakeholders, including the International Labour Organisation (ILO), Nasscom and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
“These workers lose years of their life on the road, and we have a moral obligation to protect them, while also allowing businesses to thrive,” Lad added.
Initially introduced in June, the draft Platform Based Gig Workers (Social Security and Welfare) Bill 2024, faced opposition from industry bodies like Nasscom, which raised concerns about operational impacts and potential taxation duplication. The Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) had also warned that the bill could hinder business operations.
From: financialexpress
Financial News
