About 40 per cent of India’s gig workers earn less than Rs 15,000 a month, the Economic Survey 2025-26 has said, calling for minimum per-hour or per-task earnings and faster implementation of Labour Codes to ensure fair wages, social security and better working conditions. To address the disparity between regular and gig employment, the survey suggested setting minimum earnings per hour or task, including compensation for waiting time, and limiting incentives that encourage employers to bypass mandatory benefits. Such measures, it said, would help reduce cost gaps, encourage formalisation and raise incomes for low- and medium-skilled gig workers. Alongside wage reforms, the survey stressed that effective implementation of the four Labour Codes would be critical to improving job security for women, gig and platform workers. The codes, notified in November 2025, consolidate 29 central labour laws and formally recognise gig and platform workers, extending social security, welfare funds and benefit portability.

Source: The Telegraph January 29, 2026 09:20 UTC