Government to introduce a pension scheme for gig workers

March 29, 2025 Finance Talk Valli Sarvani

Gig workers face significant financial instability due to the nature of their employment, which often lacks the security and benefits of traditional jobs.

These workers, who rely on platform-based jobs such as food delivery or ride-sharing, often struggle with irregular income, lack of job security, and limited access to social benefits.

The absence of a safety net leaves many vulnerable in times of illness, injury, or retirement. These challenges underline the importance of securing better financial support for gig workers.

Recognizing these difficulties, the government has taken a significant step to improve the welfare of gig workers by introducing a pension scheme.

This new initiative requires platform aggregators to contribute 2% of each gig worker’s income to their Employee Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) account, over and above their earnings.

This contribution is designed to provide gig workers with long-term financial security, helping them build a retirement fund that they might otherwise lack.

The pension scheme is expected to be launched in the next two to three weeks, with major aggregators like Swiggy, Zomato, Uber, and Blinkit set to participate.

Under the scheme, workers must register on the E-Shram portal, where they will declare the platforms they work with.

Once verified, they will be assigned a universal account number (UAN) under the EPFO, which will receive a 2% contribution from their employers.

For example, if a worker earns approximately 15 rupees per transaction, the employer will deposit an additional 30 paise into their EPFO account.

This initiative comes shortly after the budget announcement in February, which also included health coverage for gig workers under the PM Jan Arogya Yojana.

However, the successful implementation of this scheme hinges on effective data sharing.

Experts point out that mandatory sharing of worker data by aggregators is essential for the benefits of reaching the intended recipients.

Stakeholder discussions are ongoing, with unions, state labour ministers, and aggregators collaborating to ensure the scheme’s success.

This effort demonstrates the government’s commitment to addressing the financial challenges faced by gig workers and providing them with essential social security.

Image by Mohamed Hassan from Pxhere (Free for commercial use / CC0 Public Domain)

Image Published on February 26, 2021