Aapti engaged with a range of civil society organisations in an effort to make joint comments on the Karnataka Platform Based Gig workers (Social Security and Welfare) Bill, 2024. The consultation saw participation from policy research organisations, labour unions, and community mobilisation initiatives.

The comments are anchored in the following considerations:

1. The Bill should set the standard for platform based gig workers’ rights not just in India but globally. We believe that Karnataka has an opportunity here to pass a law that will be globally recognised as an important measure to protect the interests of gig workers in the context of the platform economy.
2. The rights of platform based gig workers should be spelt out as clearly as possible within the legislation itself while the specific details can be left to the rules.
3. Non-transparent algorithms which are at the heart of the platform economy should be reined in by laws to ensure that the worker does not suffer from arbitrary decisions taken as a result of these algorithms.
4. The tripartite model of protecting the welfare of unorganised sector workers informs not just the functioning of the Board but also the manner in which the law is enforced and implemented, apart from the schemes being funded.
5. The law is designed in a way to ensure that the State Government can effectively implement it from the first day on which it is passed and that there are no confusions over its constitutionality.