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Mahesh

11/03/24 08:05 AM IST

Gig workers suffer from lack of social security, regulations: study

In News
  • Almost a third of app-based cab drivers work for over 14 hours a day, while more than 83% work more than 10 hours and 60% work over 12 hours, according to a study.
Major findings
  • The study was conducted by the People’s Association in Grassroots Action and Movements, and the Indian Federation of App-based Transport Workers, with technical support from the University of Pennsylvania and Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung India, a German foundation.
  • Social disparities make the situation worse, with over 60% of the drivers from Scheduled Castes and Tribes working for over 14 hours a day, while only 16% from the unreserved category work such long hours.
  • Over 43% of participants in the study earn less than ₹500 a day or ₹15,000 a month, after deducting all their costs.
  • The study found that 34% of app-based delivery persons earn less than ₹10,000 a month, while 78% of them are spending over 10 hours each day at work. 
  • Overall, 5302 cab drivers and 5028 delivery persons across eight cities — Delhi, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Lucknow, Kolkata, Jaipur, and Indore — participated in a 50-question survey; 78% of the respondents were in the age group of 21 to 40 years.
  • Drivers are physically exhausted, and exposed to an increased risk of road traffic accidents, especially due to the ‘10-minute delivery at the doorstep’ policy of certain e-commerce platforms.
  • The report said that 86% of delivery persons found such policies “completely unacceptable”.
  • The lack of social and job security creates additional stress and leads to potential health issues.
  • While 72% of the cab drivers said that they face difficulty in managing expenses, 76% of the delivery persons are struggling to make their ends meet.
  • 68% of cab drivers’ responses even show that their overall expenses exceed their earnings, which indicate how a vast number of app-based workers could be in debt-like situation.
  • 41% of the drivers said they are unable to take even a single day off in a week; 48% of delivery persons too reported their inability to take a weekly off. Less than 37% of the drivers said they belonged to a union.
  • A glaring 83% of the drivers reported that the issue of ID blocking affects them negatively, 47% stated that this issue extremely affects them.
  • In the case of delivery persons, this percentage is even higher at 87%.
  • Customer behaviour affects a significant majority (72%) of drivers in a negative way, while 68% of delivery persons are reportedly affected by it negatively.
Source- The Hindu

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