Platform-Based Gig Work in India

This exploratory qualitative study asks how the structural features of platform work in India (low barriers to entry, independent-contractor classification, algorithmic management and the absence of a wage floor) appear in the accounts of platform workers. The structural argument is taken from existing literature and national data; it is illustrated here, not tested. Ten semi-structured interviews were conducted with workers on Zomato, Swiggy, Uber and Urban Company, who were recruited in person by convenience sampling. Eight participants were men and two were women, and seven had worked on their platform for three years or more. Interviews were not audio-recorded, and the analysis organises handwritten notes under four themes fixed in advance from the literature.

The accounts are consistent with the literature on income instability and on physical strain: all ten participants described variable earnings, and several described pain, injury or illness while continuing to work. One participant described account suspension without explanation, and the two Urban Company workers described ratings affected by factors outside their control. The two women interviewed emphasised the value of flexibility and the cost of ratings; neither described harassment, a pay gap or evening-hour restrictions. Those issues are documented in the literature but cannot be assessed from this sample. The Code on Social Security, 2020, the 8 to 10% gender wage gap and the figure that roughly 40% of gig workers earn below ₹15,000 a month rest on secondary sources.

Because the sample is small, non-random and weighted towards long-tenure workers who were still active, the study makes no claims about prevalence or causation. It sets out what the interviews can and cannot demonstrate, proposes directions for future research, and notes policy implications drawn from the literature: a wage floor, algorithmic transparency and explicit harassment protection for platform workers.