Manika 
(C): Unsplash
Currently, the Karnataka Gig Workers Act, which is alternatively referred to as the Karnataka Platform-Based Gig Workers (Social Security and Welfare) Act, 2025, has been at the center of a legal dispute. Swiggy, Zomato, Zepto and Urban Company have approached the Karnataka High Court asking to challenge the constitutional validity. Union workers are resisting, saying it’s a way for the companies to avoid taking responsibility. The impact on the lakhs of delivery partners peddling on Bengaluru roads each day could be life-changing. What’s on the line?
Quick Facts
| Law | Karnataka Platform-Based Gig Workers (Social Security and Welfare) Act, 2025 |
| Who it covers | Ride-hailing and home services workers in Karnataka are also working app-based. In addition, the workers in the fields of app-based delivery services and ride-hailing services in Karnataka are also working app-based. |
| Who is protesting against it (what is the object) | Swiggy, Zomato, Zepto, Urban Company, IAMAI |
| Who is defending it | Karnataka App-based Workers Union (KAWU) |
| Current status | A challenge filed at the Karnataka High Court. |
| Key asks from platforms. | Disposed of due to conflict with the Central Code on Social Security, 2020 |
What Does the Karnataka Gig Workers Act Actually Offer?
The Gig Workers Act, Karnataka, is founded on this one idea alone: If you are working on a platform, the platform becomes responsible for your well-being, regardless of whether or not you are a full-time employee.
The law has several provisions, including:
- The Karnataka government has decided to register all platform-based gig workers under the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
- A Welfare Fund – platforms will be required to make a percentage of every transaction to a pooled worker welfare corpus.
- Social security benefits such as accident insurance, health and maternity benefits.
- A grievance redressal system to enable workers to formally voice any grievances against platforms.
- Transparency of algorithmic management – platforms should share how work is assigned and ratings calculated
These are revolutionary safeguards for a delivery partner from Swiggy or Zomato who has no job security, no paid sick leave and no insurance coverage.
What Could Delivery Partners Gain?
| Benefit | Current Reality | Under the Act |
| Accident/injury insurance | Largely missing or limited | Mandated coverage |
| Health benefits | None | Covered via Welfare Fund |
| Maternity benefits | Not applicable | Included |
| Grievance redressal | Informal, platform-controlled | Formal legal mechanism |
| Rating/deactivation transparency | Opaque algorithms | Disclosure required |
| Registration & identity | No formal worker ID | Mandatory registration |
The registration system may also enable Zepto delivery partners and others involved in multiple platforms to access government welfare schemes more easily than they are currently able to.
What Are Platforms Fighting — and Why?
The key argument in the series of lawsuits filed by the aggregators is that the Gig Workers Act, Karnataka, is incompatible with the Central government’s Code on Social Security (COSS), 2020, which also applies to gig workers at the national level, and that the state law does not have the power to supersede the central legislation.
However, many legal observers and worker unions refer to this as a delay tactic. Karnataka App-based Workers Union (KAWU) is seeking to be a formal party to the case and defend the law in court through filing an intervention application.
This is a deeper financial concern of the platforms. A mandatory welfare fund contribution takes a bite out of already slim delivery economics. Whether Karnataka’s law becomes the norm or not, other states are likely to follow.
What Could Delivery Partners Lose (If the Law Is Struck Down)?
In the event the Karnataka High Court upholds the platforms:
- With no pooled contributions and no insurance mandate, the welfare fund model comes to an end.
- Gig workers still are in a legal limbo, not employees but “partners”.
- Grievances are wiped away, and workers are left with no formal grievance mechanism.
- Similar bills may be shelved in other states, pending the outcome of the legal wind direction.
- The stakes are not only in Karnataka. This case may set a precedent for the protection of gig workers in the country.
FAQs
What is the Gig Workers Act, Karnataka?
The Karnataka Platform-Based Gig Workers (Social Security and Welfare) Act, 2025 is a state law, and it is responsible for providing social security and welfare benefits to platform workers of applications like Swiggy and Zomato.
What change in the Act will bring to the delivery partners of Swiggy in particular?
In the event of an accident, delivery partners will get to avail accident insurance, health benefits and a formal grievance redressal system, which they don’t have right now.
What is Zomato and Zepto fighting over?
They contend that the state law is in violation of the Central Code on Social Security 2020, and that gig worker regulation should be done nationally, not state-by-state. Critics say that it’s mostly about not paying for welfare fund contributions.
Does the new gig worker law in Karnataka provide for insurance coverage?
Yes — the law covers both accident and health insurance, and this is covered by the mandatory contributions on the platforms.
When will these benefits for delivery partners be realised?
It will depend on the outcome of the Karnataka High Court case. The implementation of the Gig Workers Act in Karnataka is pending until the law is challenged.
Key Takeaways
- Social Security to Platform Workers through the Gig Workers Act, 2024, of Karnataka stipulates that the workers of platforms like Swiggy, Zomato, and Zepto delivery services must be granted social security, insurance, and welfare.
- Platforms have challenged the law in the Karnataka High Court, asserting that it is unconstitutional.
- The challenge is a delay tactic for no corporate responsibility, according to worker unions, which are fighting back.
- If the law proves to be true, it may be the blueprint for gig workers’ welfare in India.
- If it crashes, lakhs of delivery partners continue to be left without formal protection – and so does the national precedent.
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