The Dystopian Side of Insta-Commerce

Startup founders publicly claimed to support gig workers’ rights but secretly resisted laws that would actually protect them.

Exploitation in Urban Labour Markets

• Labour Auctions: In many urban centers, labourers gather with tools early in the morning, waiting for work. Employers or thekedaars (contractors) select workers through bidding, favoring the lowest wage offers.
• Power Imbalance: Surplus labor creates a supplier’s market, forcing workers into desperate negotiations. 
  • Thekedaars act as middlemen, ensuring maximum profit for employers while squeezing workers’ wages.
• Mazdoor Mandis: These informal job markets function like auctions, where wages are set not by fair negotiation but by who can accept the lowest pay. This race to the bottom highlights the precarious conditions of daily wage workers.

Challenges Associated with Gig Economy

• Digital Exploitation: Gig platforms replicate and amplify the labour auction model seen in mazdoor mandis. The middleman (thekedaar) is now an algorithm, controlling wages, conditions, and availability of work. 
  • Workers appear to have “choice”, but in reality, they accept any job out of desperation.
  • Example: Ride-hailing apps like Uber and Ola classify drivers as “partners” rather than employees, denying them benefits like PF or health insurance.
• Invisible Exploitation: Consumers only see the service, not the struggles of the worker (pollution, sweat, exhaustion).
• Lack of Job Security: Gig workers face no job security, no fixed wages, and no benefits, making them vulnerable to income instability.
  • Example:  A delivery partner has no control over fare calculations, as platforms determine earnings through opaque algorithms.
• Lack of Collective Bargaining: No collective bargaining—each worker is isolated, competing against millions for the lowest-paying job.  Gig platforms justify exploitation by calling it employment generation.
  • Example: Food delivery workers on Swiggy and Zomato have seen their per-delivery payments decrease over time as competition increases.
• Labour Precarity: Services like “Insta Maids” offer house help at ₹49/hour, devaluing human labor. Workers protest against low wages and lack of rights, using slogans like:
  • “Rating nahi, haq chaahiye” (We don’t want ratings, we want rights)!
  • “Insaan hai hum, ghulaam nahi” (We are human beings, not slaves)!

Legislative Struggles and Corporate Resistance

• Legislative Reluctance: Rajasthan led the way in advocating for gig workers’ rights, demanding a social security framework for gig workers,real-time access to personal work data, and an independent grievance redress mechanism with a tripartite board for discussions
  • But despite being passed, the new BJP government has stalled its implementation.
• Corporate Lobbying: NASSCOM and CII pressured state governments, arguing:
  • Gig workers are “partners,” not employees—hence, no legal protections.
  • Workers should not access their own earnings data.
  • No protection from arbitrary termination.
  • No independent grievance redressal mechanisms.
  • Karnataka’s Congress government delayed promised progressive laws, forming a committee instead.
• Hypocrisy: Urban Company’s founder signed a corporate submission against gig worker protections, while publicly claiming to support worker dignity.
• PR campaigns vs. reality: Companies talk about worker welfare but oppose actual legal protections.

Conclusion

The fight against modern digital slavery continues as workers push for recognition, rights, and fair treatment.