Promised flexibility, living in fear: Women gig workers protest in Delhi

More than 100 gig workers, most of them women, staged a protest at Jantar Mantar on Tuesday, 3 February, demanding recognition as employees and accusing digital platforms of arbitrary account suspensions, low earnings and lack of basic labour protections.

The protest was organised by the Gig and Platform Services Workers Union (GPSIWU), a women-led union, which said similar demonstrations were being held in Karnataka, Maharashtra and Rajasthan.

By early afternoon, Sunita, a home services worker from Punjabi Bagh, said she had already lost nearly Rs 900 in daily income by joining the protest.

Drawn to gig work by the promise of flexible hours and stable earnings, Sunita said she now lives with the constant fear of her account being blocked without explanation. “In the beginning, there were many bookings. They said I could manage my family. Now my ID is blocked without any reason,” she alleged.

Another protester said her account was suspended in 2022 after nearly four years with the same platform. Her husband died a few months later, leaving her without steady income. She briefly worked as a cook for Rs 15,000 a month but lost that job when the employer’s family moved out of Delhi.

Several women covered their faces at the protest, saying they feared retaliation from platforms if identified.

Many workers alleged that long working hours, commissions and mandatory charges significantly reduced their take-home pay. Sunita said a recent booking worth Rs 2,295 saw deductions of Rs 431 as commission and Rs 970 as “compulsory credit recharge”.

“If we don’t pay the credit amount, bookings stop coming. After working from morning till evening, this is what remains,” she said, adding that workers were also pressured to buy company products.

Union leaders said the issues went beyond wages. GPSIWU president Seema Singh alleged that platforms failed to address account suspensions, payment disputes and safety concerns.

“When something goes wrong, there is no human support. Workers who go to company offices in Gurugram are often sent back without solutions. Sometimes they are not even allowed to enter,” Singh said.

She also said women workers received little support in cases of sexual harassment or late-night safety risks. “All they offer is an AI chatbot. That cannot help a woman facing abuse,” she said.

Citing recent survey findings, the union said nearly one in four gig workers in India work over 70 hours a week, while more than half exceed 49 hours.

The protest comes weeks after gig workers in Delhi staged strikes during Christmas and New Year’s Eve over low pay, unsafe working conditions and tight delivery deadlines.

With agency inputs