Subscription-based Platforms: Designing payouts for social welfare in the States Platform Workers Welfare Board

The Code on Social Security, 2020, effective from 21.11.2025, recognizes gig and platform workers and mandates social security protections from platforms through a dedicated Social Security Fund. In addition to the Central Government, a few Indian states have proposed welfare contributions through transaction-based social security fees. However, this creates challenges in sectors such as ride-hailing, where platforms have shifted from transaction-based to subscription-based models without their involvement in the transactions.

The study aims to: (i) examine the economic structure of different platform sub-sectors; and (ii) evaluate the applicability of existing State-level laws to ride-hailing services and (iii) propose suitable welfare funding mechanisms using conceptual frameworks and relevant international best practices for India