Ola, Uber score 0 in Fairwork India's gig worker ratings
The 2024 Fairwork India Ratings have shown that ride-hailing giants Uber and Ola, along with logistics firm Porter, are lagging behind in their treatment of gig workers. The companies scored zero for their fair work practices. The index aims to evaluate how digital labor platforms fare in five important areas: working conditions, pay, contract fairness, management and representation.
BigBasket, Zomato, Swiggy lead in fair work practices
On the other end of the spectrum, Tata-owned BigBasket, food delivery platforms Zomato and Swiggy, and home services provider Urban Company emerged as leaders in this year's Fairwork India index. Each of these companies scored six points out of a possible 10. The top and bottom results were similar to last year's ratings.
How the Fairwork India ratings are compiled
The 2024 Fairwork India Ratings assessed 11 platforms such as Amazon Flex, Flipkart, Ola, Porter, Swiggy, Uber, BigBasket, BluSmart, Urban Company, Zepto and Zomato. The scores were determined on the basis of data collected through the Fairwork Framework. The team interviewed 440 workers across these platforms in five cities, and gathered evidence from platform managements who interacted with them.
No platform scored full points across all principles
Interestingly, no platform was able to score the maximum 10 points or get full initial points on all five principles. On the pay principle, only BigBasket and Urban Company got the first point for introducing a minimum wage policy. This policy guarantees that their workers get at least the hourly local minimum wage after deducting work-related costs.
Gig worker collectives remain unrecognized by platforms
The study also highlighted that no platform earned the point for representation. It said, "Despite many instances of workers' protests and strikes across the country, and legislative changes addressing the platform economy over the years, platforms in India refuse to formally recognize or negotiate with workers' collectives." The finding highlights a major gap in worker representation in these digital labor platforms.
