The Rajasthan Assembly on Monday passed a bill to register platform-based gig workers and their aggregators and to provide a social net to an army of mostly youngsters who have become an integral part of everyday life but are paid poorly and enjoy little job security.

The Rajasthan Platform-Based Gig Workers (Registration and Welfare) Bill seeks to set up a welfare fund, making the state helmed by chief minister and Congress veteran Ashok Gehlot the first to get such a piece of legislation passed. Activists described the bill as historic.

Food and household goods delivery companies and service-providing firms offer a platform for people to work.

But many workers complain that they are not given the status of employees and their remuneration is linked to the number of assignments or deliveries they carry out.

The gig workers neither get paid leave nor provident fund or pension although some companies offer medical and accident insurance.

According to the bill, the aggregators will have to provide data of all gig workers registered with them within 60 days of the notification of the law. The state government will register the workers and generate a unique ID for every platform-based gig worker.

The state government will start social security schemes for such workers by mobilising funds from the aggregators.

The workers will enjoy legal rights to have access to the social security schemes and will have an opportunity to be heard for any grievances.

They will participate in decisions taken for their welfare through representation in the Rajasthan Platform-Based Gig Workers Welfare Board, which will be constituted by the government.

The board will have 12 members, including two representatives of the gig workers, two representatives of the aggregators, a civil society activist and another person having an interest in the field. The board will monitor the schemes for the social security of the registered workers.

A certain percentage of the value of each transaction made will be paid by the aggregator as a fee to the welfare board. The fee will be credited to the social security fund. The defaulting aggregators will be asked to pay interest and will be fined later.

The Soochna Evum Rozgar Adhikar Abhiyan, an umbrella body of civil society organisations, called it a historic law. It said the tripartite board with the representation of aggregators, worker organisations and the government would be able to fulfil its responsibilities.

“The law will ensure the rights of a class of extremely vulnerable workers in present times. We recognise this as an important first step towards a long path ahead for ensuring the right to a decent, dignified and safe livelihood for all unorganised workers in rural and urban areas,” the Abhiyan said in a statement.

The NITI Aayog had estimated that India’s platform-based workforce is expected to expand to 23.5 million by 2029-30 from 7.7 million in 2020-21.