The Code on Social Security, 2020 marks a shift from employer-based to universal social protection. Examine with reference to gig and platform workers.

In India, social security such as EPF and ESI used to reach only workers with a formal employer. The Code on Social Security, 2020 merged nine laws into one. For the first time, it defined gig and platform workers and extended benefits to them [3][4]. This is a real shift towards universal protection, but it is not yet complete.

Elements of the shift towards universality

• Coverage that does not depend on employment status: Sections 113–114 extend benefits to unorganised, gig and platform workers, even though they have no clear employer [3].
• A new way of funding: aggregators pay 1–2% of annual turnover, capped at 5% of what they pay workers. This goes into a Social Security Fund, which the Centre and States also fund [2][3]. Platforms share the cost without becoming employers.
• Benefits across life stages: schemes can cover life and disability, health, maternity and old age [3].
• Institutions: in October 2026, the government notified two National Social Security Boards. One is for unorganised workers (40 members) and one for gig/platform workers (22 members). They recommend and monitor schemes [1].
• A registration base: a committee was set up to design the framework and register platform workers on e-Shram [4].

Limits of the shift

• Welfare, not rights: gig workers are still kept outside the employer–employee relationship [4]. They get no minimum wage, no limit on hours, and no protection against being removed from an app without reason.
• Boards only advise: the Labour Minister chairs both Boards, the Centre sets their rules, and they meet only three times a year [1]. Their recommendations do not have to be acted on.
• Slow rollout: the Code was passed in 2020, but the Boards came only in 2026 [1][2].
• Workforce growing faster than funding: NITI Aayog estimates 77 lakh gig workers in 2020–21, rising to 2.35 crore by 2029–30 [5]. The levy is tied to payouts, and poorer States may struggle to pay their share.
• Behind global standards: ILO Convention No. 193 (2026) protects platform workers whatever their legal status and asks countries to decide employment status from the facts of the work [6]. India's Code has no such test.

The Code separates social protection from employment, but it gives gig workers welfare schemes rather than enforceable rights. Several steps would complete the shift:

• time-bound government replies to Board recommendations
• cover for lost income, not just insurance
• comparing the Code against ILO Convention No. 193
• registering every gig worker on e-Shram

Together, these would move India closer to the Directive Principles in Articles 41 and 43 and to SDG 1.3, social protection for all.