IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/ijlaec/v68y2025i1d10.1007_s41027-025-00566-0.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Platform-based Gig Work in India’s Labour Statistics

Author

Listed:
  • Fahin Faras

    (Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad)

  • Balwant Singh Mehta

    (Institute for Human Development)

  • Amrita Datta

    (Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad)

Abstract

Platform-based gig work is rapidly growing in India and has become a significant component of the economy. Existing labour force surveys are unable to accurately capture this new and emerging form of work. This paper discusses conceptual and definitional issues related to gig work in labour statistics and critically reviews existing studies and estimates of India’s gig workforce. Drawing on recent experiences of several countries, the paper documents conceptual and practical lessons for updating and enhancing India’s labour force surveys for better data collection on gig workers. In doing so, the paper offers an approach to help quantify the size of the gig workforce and provide insights into the diverse and heterogeneous nature of gig work that would enable policymakers to design and implement targeted policies and programmes to improve the well-being of these workers.

Suggested Citation

  • Fahin Faras & Balwant Singh Mehta & Amrita Datta, 2025. "Platform-based Gig Work in India’s Labour Statistics," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 68(1), pages 323-337, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:ijlaec:v:68:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1007_s41027-025-00566-0
    DOI: 10.1007/s41027-025-00566-0
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s41027-025-00566-0
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s41027-025-00566-0?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jim Stanford, 2017. "The resurgence of gig work: Historical and theoretical perspectives," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 28(3), pages 382-401, September.
    2. Balwant Singh Mehta, 2023. "Changing Nature of Work and the Gig Economy: Theory and Debate," FIIB Business Review, , vol. 12(3), pages 227-237, September.
    3. Katarzyna Cieslik & Roland Banya & Bhaskar Vira, 2022. "Offline contexts of online jobs: Platform drivers, decent work, and informality in Lagos, Nigeria," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 40(4), July.
    4. Datta, Namita & Rong, Chen & Singh, Sunamika & Stinshoff, Clara & Iacob, Nadina & Nigatu, Natnael Simachew & Nxumalo, Mpumelelo & Klimaviciute, Luka, 2023. "Working Without Borders: The Promise and Peril of Online Gig Work," Jobs Group Papers, Notes, and Guides 32573393, The World Bank.
    5. Gerald Friedman, 2014. "Workers without employers: shadow corporations and the rise of the gig economy," Review of Keynesian Economics, Edward Elgar Publishing, vol. 2(2), pages 171-188, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Inga Laß & Mark Wooden, 2019. "Non-standard Employment and Wages in Australia," RBA Annual Conference Papers acp2019-04, Reserve Bank of Australia, revised Jul 2019.
    2. Mukhopadhyay, Boidurjo Rick & Chatwin, Chris R., 2021. "The Significance of Herzberg and Taylor for the Gig Economy of China: Evaluating Gigger Incentives for Meituan and Ele.me," GLO Discussion Paper Series 849, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    3. Hao Qi & Zhongjin Li, 2020. "Putting Precarity Back to Production: A Case Study of Didi Kuaiche Drivers in the City of Nanjing, China," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 52(3), pages 506-522, September.
    4. Anghel, Răzvan, 2019. "Implications of CJEU Jurisprudence on the Delimitation of Working Time by Rest Time in the Collaborative Economy," SocArXiv pj63e, Center for Open Science.
    5. John Burgess & Julia Connell, 2020. "New technology and work: Exploring the challenges," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 31(3), pages 310-323, September.
    6. Gilles Paché, 2020. "Inside Delivery Platforms: The Covid-19 Pandemic And After," Post-Print hal-03041080, HAL.
    7. Santana, Monica & Cobo, Manuel J., 2020. "What is the future of work? A science mapping analysis," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 38(6), pages 846-862.
    8. Paul Dalziel, 2019. "Wellbeing economics in public policy: A distinctive Australasian contribution?," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 30(4), pages 478-497, December.
    9. Geissinger, Andrea & Laurell, Christofer & Sandström, Christian, 2020. "Digital Disruption beyond Uber and Airbnb—Tracking the long tail of the sharing economy," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    10. Pettit, Christopher & Liu, Edgar & Rennie, Ellie & Goldenfein, Jake & Glackin, Stephen & Hayward, Richard Donald, 2018. "Understanding the disruptive technology ecosystem in Australian urban and housing contexts: a roadmap," SocArXiv mdxyf, Center for Open Science.
    11. Sergio Scicchitano & Marco Biagetti & Antonio Chirumbolo, 2020. "More insecure and less paid? The effect of perceived job insecurity on wage distribution," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 52(18), pages 1998-2013, April.
    12. Bögenhold, Dieter & Klinglmair, Robert & Kandutsch, Florian, 2018. "Self-employment on the way in a digital economy: A variety of shades of grey," MPRA Paper 85321, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Krenz, Astrid & Strulik, Holger, 2025. "Automation and the fall and rise of the servant economy," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    14. Veronica Rattini, 2023. "Worker autonomy and performance: Evidence from a real‐effort experiment," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(2), pages 300-327, April.
    15. repec:osf:osfxxx:uh3py_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Dieter Boegenhold & Robert Klinglmair & Florian Kandutsch, 2017. "Solo Self-Employment, Human Capital and Hybrid Labour in the Gig Economy," Foresight and STI Governance (Foresight-Russia till No. 3/2015), National Research University Higher School of Economics, vol. 11(4), pages 23-32.
    17. Terri L. Griffith & Emma S. Nordbäck & John E. Sawyer & Ronald E. Rice, 2018. "Field study of complements to supervisory leadership in more and less flexible work settings," Journal of Organization Design, Springer;Organizational Design Community, vol. 7(1), pages 1-26, December.
    18. Elena Lyaskovskaya & Tatyana Khudyakova, 2021. "Sharing Economy: For or against Sustainable Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-20, October.
    19. Harry Moroz & Mariana Viollaz, 2024. "The Future of Work in Central America and the Dominican Republic," World Bank Publications - Reports 42043, The World Bank Group.
    20. Argilés-Bosch, Josep Mª & Ravenda, Diego & Garcia-Blandón, Josep, 2021. "E-commerce and labour tax avoidance," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    21. Arfive Gandhi & Yudho Giri Sucahyo, 2021. "Architecting an Advanced Maturity Model for Business Processes in the Gig Economy: A Platform-Based Project Standardization," Economies, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-21, November.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:ijlaec:v:68:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1007_s41027-025-00566-0. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.