Karnataka’s gig-worker welfare framework faces a crucial implementation test, with worker unions pushing the State to move from collecting welfare contributions to delivering social-security benefits.
The Indian Federation of App-based Transport Workers (IFAT) and the Karnataka App-based Workers Union (KAWU), in a letter dated October 1 to the Chief Executive Officer and Additional Labour Commissioner of the Karnataka Platform-Based Gig Workers Welfare Board, have sought an urgent meeting of the Board to finalise and implement welfare schemes for platform workers.
The unions have sought five broad categories of benefits — universal health and accident insurance, income and maternity support, scholarships for workers’ children, an emergency distress fund, and portable pension and social-security benefits.
The demand comes after Karnataka operationalised its gig-worker welfare fee mechanism in February 2026. Under the notification, platforms are required to pay a 1 per cent welfare fee on payouts, subject to transaction-level caps depending on the category of service. The proceeds are intended to finance social-security measures under the Karnataka Platform Based Gig Workers (Social Security and Welfare) Act, 2025.
The Act provides for a Welfare Board and a dedicated welfare fund, and empowers the Board to implement general and sector-specific social-security schemes. It defines social security to include protection relating to healthcare, income security, sickness, disability, work injury, maternity, old age and loss of a breadwinner.
The implementation push comes amid legal challenges by platforms and industry bodies. The Karnataka High Court has declined to stay the operation of the Act and directed platforms including Zomato, Swiggy, Blinkit and Zepto to deposit the welfare fee with the court registry pending the proceedings.
IFAT and KAWU have argued that such amounts should be utilised for workers, saying there is no stay on the legislation.
The unions have cited nearly seven lakh active gig workers in Karnataka and said workers face income shocks from accidents, illness, deactivation and climate-related disruptions.
The latest demand marks a shift in the debate from establishing a welfare framework and collecting contributions to determining when and how workers begin receiving tangible benefits.
Published on October 4, 2026
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