"Companies need to contribute to social security net of gig workers": Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal

New Delhi [India], July 7 : Companies need to contribute to the social security net of gig workers and India could be a trendsetter in facilitating gig workers in their work, said Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal.
In an interview with ANI, Aggarwal said, "As an ecosystem between the companies and the central and state governments, we need to innovate on how a gig worker can get some kind of social security, some kind of insurance. And India can actually be the trendsetter in this."
Gig workers are those who operate as independent contractors or freelancers in the gig economy for short periods of time.
The Ola founder said India can be a trendsetter because the US is very corporatised, whereas India can come forward to do the best for society.
The Ola CEO said that they are engaging with the government across states and centres to discuss the state of gig workers.
"As you save money through technological interventions, part of the profit should go to the gig workers so that more gig workers also come in. They find it more lucrative to work," he added.
Recognising the rising trend of gig work in the country, government policy think tank NITI Aayog released a report titled 'India's Booming Gig and Platform Economy'.
The body provides a scientific methodological approach to estimate the current size and job-generation potential of the sector, recognizing the government's seriousness for the rights of gig workers in the country.
The report said in 2020-21 the number of gig workers in the country was about 77 lakh (7.7 million). The gig workers are 2.6 per cent of the non-agricultural workforce or 1.5 per cent of the total workforce in India.
The body said that the gig workforce is expected to expand to 2.35 crore (23.5 million) workers by 2029-30.
By 2029-2030, gig workers are projected to account for 4.1 per cent of India's overall income, or 6.7 per cent of the country's non-agricultural workforce.