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By Shraddha Pratapa and Manisha Dhulipala Every morning at 7-00 am, Rehana logs into the Urban Company app, hopeful the algorithm will finally send her a job. Most days, she waits. Hours pass with no notifications. When a job finally arrives, it’s often miles from home, barely covers her commute, and ends with a poor rating—this time the client didn’t like her accent. Rehana is told she’s an entrepreneur, a flexible “partner” in charge of her schedule. But what kind of empowerment demands that she wait in silence, unpaid, and invisible? Rehana is not alone. According to a report by NITI Aayog, India’s gig economy, fuelled by platforms like Urban Company and Zomato, is expected to employ 23.5 million by 2030. The rise in female labour force participation—from 23.3% in 2017–2018 to 41.7% in 2023–2024—suggests more women are seeking flexible work. Though women still hold only 20% of blue-collar roles, employers are hiring more, hoping gig platforms can bridge workforce gaps. The 2024 study by Amrita Vijayakumar Nair titled “Women’s Work in the Indian Platform Economy: A View from Bangalore” states that women, particularly those from Muslim, Adivasi, and Dalit communities, are drawn to the gig economy because it offers flexible, low-barrier labour without office hours or degrees. According to the International Labour Organisation (2023), this liberty can be crucial for those balancing paid work and unpaid care, especially in situations where gender norms limit formal employment and mobility. Gig economy and childcare A 2022 study done by Azim Premji University states that bypassing the discrimination that is typical in traditional occupations, the gig economy enables marginalised women to make money from talents like childcare or tailoring. However, the gap between promise and reality deepens as platform work expands. The harsher reality—control without security, availability without protections—lies beneath the rhetoric of convenience. Many women experience exploitative circumstances, inconsistent income, and little social safety net despite the appearance of autonomy, claims the Centre for Internet and Society, 2023. The most alluring deception in the gig economy, particularly for women, is platforms like Urban Company and Amazon Flex provide the ideal of being one's boss, working on one’s terms, without any questions, for people who are balancing childcare, unpaid household chores, and the need for money. Based on a 2023 report from Fair Work India, most women continue to work in low-paying, insecure, and gender-conforming care-based gigs including house cleaning, elder care, and beauty services despite promises of autonomy. These limitations are simply digitised by the algorithm. Women must use a non-transparent system to survive. They are visible yet helpless, logged in but unpaid. Fair Work India's 2023 study states that women workers frequently put in unpaid hours simply waiting—logged into the app—in the hopes of finding work that might or might not materialise. The system penalises them if they turn down a task that comes in late at night or is too distant from home. Visibility decreases. Ratings decline. Bookings stop coming in. Non-liveable wage Despite all of this, the average hourly income is between Rs.30 and Rs.60, which is far less than a liveable wage. Maternity benefits, health insurance, and sick leave are all non-existent—only the incessant app tracking, the never-ending logins, and the lack of job flow management. Women who work on platforms must do emotional labour while maintaining deference, being courteous, and being "presentable." However, there is underlying prejudice in these demands. Casteist and gendered bias are frequently encoded in ratings and remarks. One client once complained that she "didn't look clean enough," a veiled caste slur, according to a 34-year-old Urban Company employee who spoke to SEWA Bharat. It cut her bookings in half. Ratings aren't neutral; they control revenue and visibility. "Rude," "unhygienic," or "late" turn into algorithmic warning signs. Dalit and Muslim women are penalised by coded comments in customer reviews rather than profile data, according to studies from IT for Change and Fairwork India done in 2023. Exclusion is reproduced by these mechanisms without being identified. Although platforms assert their impartiality, their data pipelines really uphold India's most ancient structures, although behind a screen these days. Platforms adore the picture of the strong, mobile-savvy woman. Their advertising portrays gig workers as independent contractors who oversee their own schedules and earnings. However, rather than being liberating, the truth is exploitative. These so-called "partners" are not protected from capricious consumer ratings, have no influence in pricing, and no control over job assignments. They bear the dangers of being an entrepreneur. The earnings aren't. ‘Independent contractors’ Gig platforms limit women's control while simulating empowerment. These so-called "partners" have no control over task distribution, pricing, or rating protection. They bear the dangers, but not the benefits, of being an entrepreneur. Due to their designation as "independent contractors," they are not eligible for maternity benefits, paid time off, or the minimum wage. In an interview featured in the Women in Economics podcast, feminist economist Jayati Ghosh claimed that this is "disguised wage labour without rights" rather than freedom. These venues provide the appearance of empowerment rather than actual empowerment. A simulation of autonomy that is so realistic that it hides the lack of authority, rights, and dignity. The worker bears all the risk and none of the leverage in this asymmetrical economic model. However, this system is constructed and not inevitable. It is also reimaginable. Justice cannot be left as an optional choice if gig employment is to continue to exist in India. There is an urgent need for regulatory change. Although gig workers were acknowledged as a separate group by the 2020 Code on Social Security, no legally enforceable benefits were provided. Without implementation, it lacks teeth. Rules lack in teeth There are some promising state-led models. A social security fund and grievance redressal procedures were established by Rajasthan's 2023 Gig Workers Welfare Act. However, a national problem cannot be reversed by piecemeal measures. Digital justice needs to be "redistributive, not performative," as academic Nikita Sud cautions. True flexibility entails dignity-based choice as an economy of platforms based on rights rather than ratings. Need for legal responsibility Platforms must be held legally responsible for labour rights, such as maternity benefits, minimum wage enforcement, and easily available grievance redressal procedures, in order to go beyond symbolic acknowledgment. Women must be able to comprehend how positions and ratings are awarded and have the ability to question opaque algorithmic determinations. Policy frameworks run the risk of perpetuating the very exclusions they seek to address if Dalit, Muslim, and Adivasi women—who are overrepresented in precarious, low-paying employment and confront structural obstacles to healthcare and education—are not actively included. The gig economy thrives on invisible women—always logged in, never protected. Rehana is told she’s her own boss. But her pay, visibility, and dignity are dictated by algorithms she can’t see and customers she can’t challenge. Shraddha Pratapa is a third-year international relations student at FLAME University, Pune. Her areas of research interest include gender justice, international law, and rural development policy. She is currently a research intern at the Centre for Development Policy and Practice (CDPP). On the other hand, Manisha Dhulipala is a Senior Research Fellow at CDPP. She holds a double Masters in Environmental Sciences and Sustainable Development, with the second Master’s from the University of Sussex. She has worked in the fields of public health, environment & sustainable development, education, and gender.

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