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Nearly 25% gig workers in India work for over 70 hours a week; 27% meet with accidents: new survey
The survey by a non-profit comes against the backdrop of a conversation on the working conditions and earnings of gig workers triggered by a nationwide strike held on Christmas and New Year's Eve last year.
About 34 per cent of the survey's respondents said they had experienced harassment or violence while working on platforms (File Photo).
Nearly one in every four gig workers in India clock more than 70 hours each week, a survey has found. Fifty-seven per cent of workers report work hours exceeding 49 hours a week, according to the survey.
The survey comes against the backdrop of a conversation on the working conditions and earnings of gig workers triggered by a nationwide strike held on Christmas and New Year’s Eve last year. Following the strike, the Central Government asked quick-commerce companies to stop advertising 10-minute deliveries, citing worker safety.
The findings of the survey were released at an event organised by the non-profit Janpahal and Gig Workers Association at the Constitution Club of India on Friday. The event included a public screening of the film Zwigato, followed by a panel discussion on the gig economy, featuring RJD MP Manoj Jha, filmmaker Nandita Das, and gig workers Pooja, Mohd Irfan, Bhupendra Narayan Bhupesh, and Shiv Prajapati, and moderated by journalist Siddharth Vardarajan.
“Platform companies are increasingly using app-based suspensions, algorithmic penalties, and intimidation to silence workers instead of engaging in meaningful dialogue,” Jha said.
“The practice of calling gig workers as partners is also an extraordinary example of the caste and class arrangements in our society. Similar to this, the practice telling children to call their maids as aunties is an attempt to hide many discrepancies,” he added.
The survey also found that 62 per cent of gig workers had faced near-miss road accidents while working, while 27 per cent reported having met with traffic accidents during the course of their work.
About 34 per cent of respondents said they had experienced harassment or violence while working on platforms, pointing to safety risks beyond road accidents.
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Despite these risks, 44 per cent of workers reported having no accident insurance, and 62 per cent said they lacked health insurance coverage, the survey found.
The survey showed that 60 per cent of gig workers had received no safety training from platforms, while 56 per cent said they did not trust platform-run safety reporting systems.
Exposure to extreme heat was reported by 84 per cent of respondents, with most saying platforms provided little or no protection during heatwave conditions.
The findings of the survey are based on responses received from 1,000 platform workers in 10 cities—Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Bhopal, Agra, Lucknow, Jaipur, and Patna—between November 15 and December 30 in 2025.
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The survey covered workers in four segments: food and grocery commerce delivery, quick commerce delivery, ride hailing, and household and personal work. The surveyors conducted face-to-face interviews using a semi-structured questionnaire that included both open-ended and closed-ended questions.
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