- India has set a June 22, 2026 deadline for platform aggregators to integrate worker data with the e-Shram portal, paving the way for social security benefits for over one crore gig and platform workers.
- The proposed benefits include health insurance, accident coverage, maternity support, pensions, and financial assistance, funded through contributions from digital platforms under the Social Security Code.
- While the move is a major step toward worker protection, concerns remain over eligibility rules that require gig workers to meet minimum engagement periods each year to qualify for benefits.
Every food delivery, every cab ride, every quick commerce order placed in India is fulfilled by a worker who has no minimum wage guarantee, no health insurance, and no pension. That is not an oversight. It is how India’s platform economy was designed to function.
That is now changing. The government has set June 22, 2026 as the deadline for all platform aggregators to integrate their worker databases with the e-Shram portal, the first concrete step toward delivering social security benefits to over one crore gig and platform workers across the country.
The government is moving to roll out social security benefits for gig and platform workers, including accident insurance, health coverage, maternity support and old-age protection, while pushing platform companies to integrate worker data with the e-Shram portal before the June 22 deadline.
What the Government Announced at FICCI
The announcement came at a stakeholders’ consultation on gig and platform workers organised by FICCI on May 29, 2026. Ashutosh Pednekar, Joint Secretary and Director General (Labour Welfare) at the Ministry of Labour and Employment, addressed aggregators directly.
“At this point of time, almost about one crore workers are employed here and the potential is to go up to almost 2.5 crores by the end of this decade,” Pednekar said.
He noted that a dedicated Social Security Fund is being activated to support the rollout of welfare schemes, including accident compensation, healthcare support, maternity benefits, cash assistance, educational loans and funeral-related support. According to him, the government is currently developing implementation frameworks and consulting fund managers to design delivery mechanisms for these benefits.
On the integration deadline, Pednekar was direct. He urged platform companies to complete integration with the e-Shram portal before June 22, saying the government is working under “very, very tight deadlines” to implement the system. 
How the System Will Work
The architecture being built is straightforward in principle. Once integrated, data from aggregators and the e-Shram platform will be linked, enabling real-time tracking of welfare benefits and reducing duplication. Officials said workers will eventually be able to access information about their entitlements and benefits through a digital, app-based interface. The system is expected to improve portability, allowing workers to retain benefits even when switching between platforms or working with multiple aggregators.
“You have the databases of the aggregators as well as the e-Shram which will speak to each other,” Pednekar said, adding that the system would allow real-time tracking of benefits availed by workers. 
The Law That Makes This Possible
The legal foundation for this push was laid in November 2025. The Code on Wages, 2019, Industrial Relations Code, 2020, Code on Social Security, 2020 and the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 came into effect from November 21, 2025.
For gig workers specifically, the Code on Social Security is the most significant. The Social Security Code authorises the government to require aggregators to contribute not less than 1% and up to 2% of their annual turnover toward a Social Security Fund for gig and platform workers. These contributions are capped at 5% of the amount payable to such workers. Aggregators that fail to make timely contributions may be required to pay interest on unpaid amounts, according to legal analysis by Fisher Phillips.
Draft rules, released in December 2025, provide for Aadhaar-based electronic self-registration on a central portal and define eligibility conditions linked to days of engagement with aggregators. 
The 90-Day Rule and Its Critics
Not everyone is celebrating. The eligibility condition at the heart of the framework has drawn sharp criticism from labour experts.
Draft rules under the Social Security Code propose that gig and platform workers must be engaged with an aggregator for at least 90 days in a financial year to qualify for social security benefits established by the Centre. For those working with more than one aggregator, the required period increases to 120 days, Drishti IAS reported.
Corporate Professionals, a law and compliance firm, identified a structural flaw. The 90/120-day engagement rule is to be considered for the last financial year but not the current financial year, which will make workers ineligible in the current year even after serving any aggregator for the full 365 days. For example, a gig or platform worker who served less than 90 or 120 days in FY 2025-26 would find their life and health insurance not covered by any government scheme in FY 2026-27. This requirement has to be fulfilled in every financial year to prove eligibility.
This is a stark contrast with protections for regular employees. Workers under EPFO and ESIC are covered from day one. Gig workers will need to re-qualify every year.
States Are Moving Faster Than the Centre
While the central government finalises its framework, several states have already enacted laws.Under the revised Code on Social Security, which came into effect on November 21, 2025, digital platforms and aggregators are now required to contribute between 1% and 2% of their annual turnover into a dedicated Social Security Fund, capped at 5% of payments made to gig and platform workers. But beyond the central code, state-level action has been more aggressive.
In Karnataka, aggregators must pay a Platform-Based Gig Workers Welfare Fee between 1% and 5% of the payout to the worker per transaction, with rates varying across categories of platforms and payable quarterly. Rajasthan has adopted a similar approach, requiring a welfare fee calculated as a percentage of the value of each transaction involving a platform worker.Jharkhand passed a bill on gig worker welfare in August 2025, and Telangana released a draft bill earlier in the year, according to law firm analysis published on law.asia.
Strikes Forced the Government’s Hand
The policy momentum has not come without pressure. Workers themselves created the urgency.On New Year’s Eve 2025, something unprecedented happened. Between 200,000 and 300,000 gig workers participated in a nationwide strike, the largest collective action in India’s gig economy history. Workers logged off platforms from Zomato, Swiggy, Blinkit, Zepto, Uber, Ola, and Amazon Logistics.
Among the union’s primary demands was a minimum service payout of Rs 20 per kilometre, automatic fuel-cost-linked payment revisions, health and accident insurance, pension and social security benefits, limits on excessive working hours, and protection against arbitrary account suspensions,  as reported by India TV News.
The government responded. Major delivery aggregators agreed to remove the 10-minute delivery service deadline following government intervention. A meeting with leading platforms including Blinkit, Zepto, Zomato and Swiggy was held to address concerns related to delivery timelines. Blinkit had already acted on the directive and removed the 10-minute delivery promise from its branding, News on Air reported in January 2026.
What Comes Next
The June 22 integration deadline is not the end of the process. It is the beginning of data infrastructure that will eventually power benefit delivery. The Social Security Fund still needs to be fully operationalised. The National Social Security Board for gig workers needs to be constituted. Contribution rates need to be formally notified.
The Economic Survey 2025-26, released just a day before the Budget, explicitly documented the precarity of gig work, highlighting that many gig workers earn below Rs 15,000 per month and face high income volatility driven by algorithmic task allocation and limited bargaining power, according to The Policy Edge.
India has built a gig economy that employs millions. The question of whether those millions will have a safety net is now, finally, being answered. June 22 is the deadline. What follows will define whether the answer is real or only on paper.
Clear Cut Livelihood Desk
New Delhi, UPDATED: June 08, 2026 01:00 IST
Written By: Ayushman Meena
