Gig workers’ nationwide strike: why are they protesting?

Nationwide protests by transportation workers employed by speedy e-commerce platforms connected Wednesday (December 31, 2025) disrupted services successful respective cities, impacting consumers up of New Year celebrations. It has raised a six-charter demand, including just wages, harmless moving conditions, societal security, and workers’ close extortion among others. With gig idiosyncratic unions signalling continued protests and a nationwide onslaught connected December 31, these demands could disrupt nutrient and parcel transportation services successful respective cities, perchance affecting New Year celebrations arsenic consumers look delays oregon reduced availability of app-based services.

In a station successful X, the Indian Federation of App-Based Transport Workers (IFAT) said, “Nearly 40,000 transportation workers crossed India participated successful a nationwide flash onslaught connected 25 December 2025, causing 50–60% work disruption successful galore cities. Workers are protesting unsafe enactment models, falling incomes, arbitrary ID blocking, constabulary harassment, and denial of dignity and societal security”. The workers’ relation had attached a transcript to the Secretary and Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Govt of India.

What are their demands?

With thousands of transportation workers having already participated successful nationwide strikes, unions accidental the concerns spell beyond wages and constituent to deeper structural issues successful the level economy. The timing of the agitation, conscionable up of New Year celebrations, raises the imaginable of work disruptions successful large cities, adjacent arsenic companies brace for highest demand. Workers reason that without urgent authorities intervention, tensions betwixt platforms and the workforce are apt to escalate.

Likewise, Telangana Gig and Platform Workers Union, successful a station connected X wrote, “We impulse the Hon’ble Centre and State Labour Ministers to urgently enactment connected gig workers’ issues—unfair payouts, unsafe 10-minute transportation models and arbitrary ID blocking. Ahead of the 31 Dec National Strike, convene an contiguous gathering with unions and platforms.”

IFAT connected a missive to the Labour Minister has included the pursuing demands:

1. Regulation of level companies nether labour laws
2. Ban connected unsafe “10-minute delivery” models
3. End to arbitrary ID blocking and penalties
4. Fair and transparent wages
5. Social information including health, mishap insurance, and pension
6. Protection of the close to organise and collectively bargain

Legislation connected gig workers

The Code connected Social Security, 2020, passed by Parliament, marks the archetypal clip ‘gig workers’ and ‘platform workers’ are formally recognized nether Indian labour law, ensuring entree to societal information benefits specified arsenic beingness and disablement cover, mishap insurance, wellness and maternity benefits, and old-age protection. Platform workers, a subset of gig workers, gain done online apps oregon integer platforms.

The Union Budget 2025-26 further emphasized their payment by announcing e-Shram registration, individuality cards, and healthcare sum nether Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY), which provides up to ₹5 lakh per household for secondary and tertiary care, though the strategy for level workers is yet to beryllium launched.

Similarly, Telangana Cabinet approved Telangana Gig and Platform Workers (Registration, Social Security and Welfare) Act, 2025 connected November 17, 2025. The enactment aims to modulate gig workers by registering them with the Gig and Platform Workers Welfare Board and assigning a unsocial ID. The Board implements state-notified societal information schemes, supported by a Social Security and Welfare Fund funded by the government, workers, and platforms. Workers tin entree accusation connected automated systems, determining fares, earnings, and feedback. The measure raises questions connected payment backing work and however benefits volition beryllium calculated.

Karnataka promulgated the Platform-Based Gig Workers (Social Security and Welfare) Ordinance, 2025 successful May, empowering the authorities authorities to framework rules connected cardinal aspects of gig work. In July, the authorities released draught rules for nationalist feedback, outlining the registration process, instauration of a gig idiosyncratic database for the Welfare Board, and mechanisms to entree accusation connected automated systems determining net and fares. The rules besides item entreaty procedures, usage of the Welfare Fund, and further sources of contributions.

Which transportation platforms volition look impact?

The determination volition interaction cab-aggregators, particularly Ola, Uber, Rapido, successful metropolitan arsenic good arsenic Tier-I and Tier-II cities crossed the country. Moreover, the interaction volition encompass different platforms progressive with speedy e-commerce services specified arsenic Flipkart, Amazon, Zomato, Instamart, Blinkit, Zepto, among others. Food transportation apps specified arsenic Swiggy and Zomata are besides apt to beryllium affected.

Also read: The hidden costs of 10-minute deliveries successful Bengaluru

Internet responds to gig workers’ strike

In a station successful X, All India Professional Congress (AIPAC) wrote, “This onslaught is not astir inconvenience, it is astir rights. Congress’s gig workers’ argumentation successful Telangana and Karnataka was not made successful isolation, but shaped with gig workers themselves, reflecting their lived realities and demands, with the AIPC Chairman and 1 of our MMS Fellows playing an instrumental role”.

AAP Rajya Sabhya MP Raghav Chadha precocious flagged the the exploitative conditions faced by gig and app-based transportation workers, calling them the “invisible wheels of the Indian economy.” He highlighted however ultra‑fast “10‑minute delivery” models propulsion workers into unsafe conditions, often moving agelong hours without occupation security, just wage oregon basal protections, and urged the authorities to modulate quick‑commerce platforms and guarantee dignity, information and rights for gig workers. Chadha besides flagged cases wherever riders earned precise debased wages contempt agelong shifts, underscoring the request for stronger labour rights and societal information measures.

Minister of Labour and Employment, Vivek Venkatswamy, too, posted a video connected X, expressing enactment towards the telephone for onslaught raised by the gig workers.

Actor-comedian Vir Das took to X and voiced enactment to the gig workers.