Labour Ministry proposes 90-day work rule for gig workers’ social security

The Labour Ministry has proposed a 90-day annual work threshold as a mandatory eligibility condition for gig and platform workers to access social security benefits under new draft rules issued under the Social Security Code 2020.

The draft Code on Social Security (Central) Rules, 2025, published on December 31, set out detailed conditions for the registration, eligibility and contribution framework for gig and platform workers. The four labour codes, including the Social Security Code 2020, were notified on November 21, 2025, and the draft rules have now been pre-published for stakeholders’ feedback.

“In order to be eligible for any benefit under any scheme framed under the Code for gig workers or platform workers, the Central Government may notify specific conditions for eligibility through general or special order, in addition to registration on the designated portal of the Central Government: Provided that such eligible worker has been engaged as gig worker or platform worker for not less than ninety days with an aggregator, or in the case of multiple aggregators, not less than one hundred and twenty days, in the last financial year,” the draft rules stated.

The ministry clarified that a gig worker or platform worker would be considered engaged with an aggregator for one day if they have earned income, irrespective of the amount, for work rendered with the aggregator on that calendar day.

Where a worker is engaged with multiple aggregators, the days of engagement will be calculated cumulatively across platforms. If a gig worker or platform worker is engaged with three aggregators on a particular calendar day, it will be counted as three days of engagement, the Ministry of Labour and Employment said.

The draft rules also clarified that eligible gig or platform workers would include those engaged directly by an aggregator or through an associate company, holding company, subsidiary, limited liability partnership or a third party.

To facilitate the regular updating of worker details, aggregators will be required to share electronic information of gig and platform workers engaged with them on a quarterly basis, or at such other periodicity as specified, on the designated central government portal. In the absence of such updates, a worker may not be eligible to avail benefits under social security schemes notified under the Code.

Similarly, eligible unorganised workers will be required to update their personal details — including address, occupation, mobile number and skills — from time to time, failing which they may be denied benefits under applicable social security schemes.

Under the draft rules, every gig or platform worker who has completed sixteen years of age will be required to register using Aadhaar and other prescribed documents on a self-declaration basis under section 113 of the Code, through a designated portal.

Upon commencement of the rules, aggregators will also be required to upload details of all gig and platform workers engaged with them for the generation of a Universal Account Number or any other unique identification number, if the worker does not already possess one.

Every eligible registered gig or platform worker will be issued an identity card, digital or otherwise, bearing their photograph and other prescribed details. The digital card will be downloadable from the designated portal.

The contributions collected under the framework will be maintained as part of the Social Security Fund in a separate account specifically meant for gig workers.

The draft rules further stated that if an aggregator fails to pay the required contribution within the specified time, it will be liable to pay interest at the rate of one per cent for every month or part of a month from the due date until the amount is paid.