The Karnataka government has issued a notification constituting the Karnataka Platform-Based Gig Workers Welfare Board under the Platform-Based Gig Workers (Social Security and Welfare) Act, 2025. With the Board now in place, the State has moved from passing legislation to implementing welfare measures for app-based gig workers.
The Board’s constitution gives effect to the law passed in August 2025, which replaced an ordinance promulgated earlier in May. The Act applies to a wide range of platform-based services, including ride-hailing, food and grocery delivery, logistics, e-commerce, and digital services.
However, the Board’s formal constitution marks the beginning of scrutiny, not its conclusion. “The real and decisive test of Karnataka’s Gig Workers Welfare Board begins only after its formal constitution,” said Abhishek A. Rastogi, constitutional expert and founder of Rastogi Chambers.
Who are the members of the Gig Workers Welfare Board
According to the notification, the Labour Minister will serve as the ex-officio chairperson of the Board. Senior officials from the Labour Department, the Department of Information Technology, and the Commercial Taxes Department have been included as ex-officio members. The Board will also have a Chief Executive Officer, who will function as its Member Secretary.
Additionally, the Board includes representatives from gig worker unions and aggregator platforms. Platform representatives named in the notification include Porter, Zomato, Uber, and Amazon.
The notification also provides for civil society representation with experience in the gig economy. In addition, the Board may draw on technical experts in data collection, information technology, and digital platforms as required.
Under the Act, the Welfare Board serves as the central implementing authority for Karnataka’s gig worker framework. It is responsible for registration, welfare fund administration, implementation of social security schemes, and grievance redressal.
What the Board must do next
Registration is the first real test
The Act requires aggregator platforms to share their databases of gig workers with the Board within 45 days, after which the Board must issue a unique identification number to each registered worker.
Registration enables the Board to calculate welfare contributions, determine eligibility for benefits, and assign grievances to the relevant platform. It also underpins portability across platforms, which depends on consistent worker identification across services.
Rastogi said registration is not discretionary. The Board’s “immediate and unavoidable obligations”, he said, include the need to “promptly frame and notify robust operational rules” and “mandate comprehensive registration of gig workers and digital aggregators.”
Implementation will require the Board to reconcile data submitted by multiple platforms and account for workers who move in and out of…
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