Karnataka Labour Minister Santhosh Lad has announced that a 1%-2% “welfare cess” will be levied on every transaction by online aggregator platforms, and this money will be used to form the gig workers’ welfare fund.
According to the draft of the Karnataka Platform Based Gig Workers (Social Security and Welfare) Bill, 2024, which was earlier put out in the public domain, a fund was proposed for the welfare of gig workers. The draft suggested that either a cess per transaction or a fee on the annual turnover of the aggregators would be levied towards this.
Various gig workers’ unions have since then been demanding a cess-per-transaction-based model. Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Lad said the welfare cess would be levied not on the overall product value but on the transportation costs incurred by the aggregator companies. “The customer will incur 50% of it and the rest the company,” he said.
According to him, forming a welfare fund using a percentage of the annual turnover of the companies would delay the process.
“A gig worker spends their day outside in the traffic, inhales tons of polluted air and faces severe health risks. It’s important that this welfare fund is formed at the earliest, and we are taking the necessary measures for it,” he said. The Bill seeks to regulate the social security and welfare of platform-based gig workers in the State.
Mr. Lad said the draft Bill would be cleared in the Cabinet and placed in the winter session at Belagavi. The Bill, which was expected to be placed in the monsoon session previously, had met severe opposition from industry bodies.
Mr. Lad’s latest announcement also comes close on the heels of Union Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya announcing that a social security framework for gig workers will come into place before the Budget in February 2025 and that it would be legally binding across the country.
Published – October 19, 2024 10:01 pm IST
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