Jaipur, July 27 (KNN) Rajasthan government has cleared a bill to impose a surcharge on online transactions via platforms like Amazon, Ola and Zomato to fund welfare benefits for gig workers.

This marks first such scheme in the country as number of gig workers has grown sharply in India to an estimated 15 million.

The Rajasthan state assembly approved late on Monday the platform-based gig workers' welfare bill, under which online platforms would collect a surcharge of up to 2% on transactions, according to state officials, and deposit the proceeds in a welfare fund to be run by a board with workers, industry and government representatives.

Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said, “With this Act, the interests of gig workers will be protected.”

He said the government noted that despite huge contributions to the economy, gig workers were not covered under current labour laws.

At the national level, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration got parliament's approval in 2020 to amend labour laws, including a new Social Security Code that proposed a social security fund for gig workers through contributions from aggregators.

However, implementation has been deferred after opposition from some companies and unions. Gig workers have subsequently started lobbying with opposition parties.  (KNN Bureau)