While reading the newspaper, The Hindu I found one Discussion between Prasant Kamal (National General Secretary, Yuva Hallabol) and Kamal Karanath (Co-founder of XPheno, a specialist staffing company) where they discussed upon the debate around the gig workers and 10 minutes delivery model. Through this article I would like to summarize the discussion, share my thoughts and would love to open the discussion to you all and know your opinion on it.
According to Prasant Kamal: the debate is not all about the 10 minutes delivery model, but it is beyond that. It is binary between consumer’s comfort and gig worker’s misery. Basically, it is not need; it is a competition among the platforms.
He described his view in three points, stating:
- The force behind the 10 minutes delivery is not the software that runs the system rather it is human workforce which is kept under unstable pay, changing rules, and the constant threat of getting their IDs blocked.
- Speed is not created by technology, it is extracted from real people: the software is just a system that runs the application, but the said promises are fulfilled by the people.
- If we look at the economy, it is not getting affected, as tech costs and marketing budgets are treated as given and protected but only labors are treated as adjustable. And the question remains who is really paying for this 10 mins delivery?
Studies have shown that 80% of the workers engaged with gigs platform are working full time. For millions this is a primary livelihood, they are only asking for predictable minimum income, fair pay, protection from sudden ID blocks, clear rules for pay and cover, basic safety cover and data transparency. The platforms decide the prices, who gets work, control ratings, they can switch people off overnight, there can be some process before punishing or blocking the workers. (If you control the work, you must carry obligations.) This is not a radical demand.
The labor codes are not sufficient to create a social security system for gig workers as they came very late, code is vague and non-mandatory in nature. It provides welfare programs like accident insurance, maternity benefits etc.; but it doesn’tmake them enforceable right away. Gig workers get an ID card by registering on e-SHRAM portal, but they get no tangible benefits like covered hospital bills or pensions, they offer a social security scheme but no broader labor rights, no access to minimum wages, regulated working hours, paid leaves or overtime pay or collective bargaining under the other labor codes. The funding provisions for social security are inadequate, with no exact rates, enforcements and how funds are allocated.
The actual problem workers face is the blind spots where they face lack of transparency. All the things like who gets the work and incentives, ratings and even de-activations are controlled by the algorithm, these black boxes cause stress, unfair penalties, and income instability. Workers are at the mercy of technology that priorities profits over fairness and there is no mechanism for grievance redressal and dispute resolution because the code nowhere mandates transparency, accountability or appeals against algorithmic decisions.
There is huge crisis of unemployment which cannot be addressed without improving labor-incentive sector and other manufacturing sectors. Government should make policies to improve these sectors. The future of gig workers is very brutal, as by development of AI which brings more control, less voice, and more people living one algorithm update away from losing their income.AI will make platforms efficient at replacing people, rotating people, and squeezing more work out of whoever is still logged in. for example: today, a delivery worker can be switched off by an app, or tomorrow AI will be deciding that faster, cheaper and at larger scale. It will make workers more disposable, like not more secure.
According to Kamal Karanth: 10 minutes delivery model has become part of our lives, as we are dependent on quick commerce now, demand generated by a few companies, it has created necessity itself. If we look up some data from 2024-2027 it has grown threefold-from Rs.50,000 crore in 2025, it’s closing to Rs.1 lakh crore to Rs.1.5 lakh crore in next two years. Industry is growing at 28%. Online groceries market is expected to grow at almost 40%-50%.
Some job better than no job?This should be the primary question as these platforms are filling a huge gap between people who do not have high skills but need a job. In India, 20 million people are passing out to make way for the workforce coming in, and we are hardly able to create two million jobs for them every year. Therefore, from a delivery point of view, creating a crore of a job requires at least five years.
Kamal has different points of view about India’s labor law as he states that they are one of the most protected laws, means that it provides great amount of protection when it comes to the regulations we had. Gig workers were new concept therefore it was not covered in the regulationsbut soon the regulators are mostly getting into the act of saying workers protection is important. As of now labor codes are still evolving, and when they come up with something stronger, we can possibly qualify it further.
Gig works are different from full-time employment, so if we make it like a full-time employment, then gig will lose the shine of it and may kill the model. Even in the full-time employment in ‘private world’ there is no such guarantee and transparency. There is an attrition of 1 lakh to 1.5 lakh workers who are leaving and joining somewhere else every month, so how many of the workers will remain if we gig works are permanent?Instead of killing the golden goose, which is growing, India should focus on creating more employment opportunities.
“We should protect what are good things of it, possibly engage with platforms more than disrupting their business models and asking about how to bring social security and allows the otherwise unskilled people to get a job?”
Entry- level repeattasks will get automated by development of AI. AI will come and work but the current model of gig platforms that are employing gig workers will not be disrupted in short term.
Unlike tech sector did in past, manufacturing sector does not create overnight jobs, the faster movements are in the quick commerce sector, and we should do everything to protect it.
Both have their own perceptions about the subject, but what we really need to understand is how to balance our necessity with the security of others, sometimes if the delivery is done beyond the given delivery time we as a customer have irritations and shows anger about the situation, I know many of us have urgency about to get the order on time because of many reasons like our prior commitments or our honour is at stake but is it viable to do so? I am keeping the end open for everyone.
“Keeping the essence of gig works alive and providing gig workers some social security there can be balance between these two, we need to find”.
Recent Development:
The four labor codes—the Code on Wages, 2019; the Industrial Relations Code, 2020; the Code on Social Security, 2020; and the Occupational Safety, Health, and Working Conditions Code, 2020—which rationalize 29 current labour laws, will go into effect on November 21, 2025.
From the standpoint of gig and platform workers, these labour norms are essentially revolutionary in addition to modernizing the current labour laws. Due to the new regulations, gig and platform workers are now officially included in India’s labour policy for the first time.
From the standpoint of gig and platform workers, these labour norms are essentially revolutionary in addition to modernizing the current labour laws. Due to the new regulations, gig and platform workers are now officially included in India’s labour policy for the first time.
By creating the groundwork for a workforce prepared for the future and more robust, resilient industries, this historic step toward labour reforms has contributed to the objective of Aatmanirbhar Bharat.
The Indian government has acknowledged the work that goes beyond the official structures of factories, offices, and store floors through its creative strategy.
The millions of people who deliver meals, operate taxis, fix appliances, and provide other home-based services are acknowledged by the new labour rules’ broader definition of work and workers.
But legislation is still only the first step. Gig workers’ contributions to the nation’s economy are acknowledged by the changes, but their actual involvement will depend on how they are put into practice. The larger policy challenge is figuring out how to extend social security to a workforce that works across apps, across cities, and frequently across multiple platforms in a single day because the traditional employer-employee model just does not capture the complexities of today’s digitally mediated labour market.
Author Name- Vedika Prakash, BA LL.B. (Hons.), UPES, Dehradun
