The Gig Economy's Precarious Pact: Why India Is Hesitant on Global Worker Rights

What is the issue?

On June 12, 2026, at the 114th International Labour Conference in Geneva, member states voted to adopt Convention No. 193, the first international treaty establishing binding standards for ‘Decent Work in the Platform Economy’. The vote was overwhelmingly in favour, with 406 votes for, 8 against, and 36 abstentions. India, a founding member of the ILO, was among the nations that abstained.

While India’s employer and worker delegates voted in favour of the convention, the government’s official delegation chose to abstain. This signalled a deliberate decision to distance itself from the global consensus on regulating the gig economy. The move has raised critical questions about India's commitment to protecting its rapidly growing platform workforce and the adequacy of its domestic legal framework.

What does ILO Convention No. 193 propose?

Convention No. 193 is designed to address the core vulnerabilities of platform-based work by establishing a universal floor of rights applicable to all platform workers, irrespective of their contractual classification. Its key provisions include ensuring workers receive statutory or negotiated minimum wages, timely payments, and access to occupational safety and health measures. The treaty mandates social security protections on terms no less favourable than those available to comparable workers in the formal economy.

The Convention also ventures into the novel territory of algorithmic management. It requires digital labour platforms to be transparent about automated decisions that significantly affect workers, such as work allocation and account deactivation. Platforms must provide written explanations for such decisions and ensure human oversight. Furthermore, Article 9 of the Convention directly challenges misclassification, stipulating that a worker's employment status must be determined based on the factual reality of their work, not the contractual label assigned by the platform.

What is the government's likely position?

While the Government of India did not issue a detailed public statement, its position can be inferred from its legislative actions and policy on ratifying ILO conventions. The rationale likely rests on two main arguments: the primacy of domestic legislation and the principle of federalism.