Ganesh Kendale
NEW DELHI: Ola, Uber and logistics firm Porter has failed to maintain minimum standards of fair working conditions for gig workers, according to a report by Fairwork India released on Thursday.
“Corporates [platform companies] make an investment, by investment I mean they evoke the desires of workers in the beginning and, because of that, they [drivers] hope there will be gains.They are actually like vittal poochi [winged termites],” a 44-year-old gig worker who joined Ola in 2017 said, as quoted by the report.
“Once companies gained the trust of the drivers, they began to cut down on the offers and opportunities they gave earlier”, he added.
The report revealed that out of the 11 companies reviewed, only bigbasket and Urban Company received the first point under fair pay for implementing a minimum wage policy that ensures all their workers earn at least the local hourly minimum wage after accounting for work-related expenses.
It further said that despite the growth of platform worker collectivization across the country in the past six years, there was a lack of evidence from any platform demonstrating a willingness to recognize a collective group of workers. As a result, no platform was able to earn a point for this principle this year.
Meanwhile, Amazon Flex, bigbasket, BluSmart, Swiggy, Urban Company, Zepto, and Zomato earned the first point under fair conditions for supplying adequate safety equipment and offering regular safety training to their workers.
