Is India’s gig economy failing its female workforce?

Glaring wage gaps, safety concerns, and poor legal regulation coupled with a lack of flexibility and autonomy means women gig workers are compelled to fight for their rights

When 45-year-old Rani (name changed) joined Urban Company in 2016, it seemed like the perfect solution to rebuild her livelihood after her salon in Gurugram shut down. Offering flexibility and access to a steady stream of customers, the app-based home services platform promised a lifeline for women like her. But the realities of relentless customer ratings, hidden costs, and precarious working conditions soon set in. On top of that, the inability to take time off from work without facing penalties or being barred from the app for not completing the stipulated number of hours became a routine challenge that often outweighed the benefits, she says. 

Rani’s story is part of a larger picture. The Indian gig economy, projected to employ 23.5 million workers by 2030, has become critical for the workforce, particularly for female gig workers, whose participation in the labour market has declined to just 19.2 per cent. While offering autonomy and income opportunities, the sector remains fraught with systemic challenges, from wage gaps to safety risks.

“When all these apps came, it became so convenient for people to get services at home. They wouldn’t even step out to go to a salon that’s right below their home, so I had no option but to go where the customers were,” says Rani. She requested that The Established use a pseudonym for her to avoid any backlash at work for speaking to the press. 

Gigin, a platform that connects informal workers to employers, reported a hundred-fold surge in 2024 in the number of women participating in the gig workforce in India as compared to previous years, particularly in urban hubs like Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Delhi. The report also highlighted an increase in women taking on seasonal work. Roles in customer service, sales and retail, data entry, and housework especially saw a rise in applications, according to Gigin. 

Why are more women taking up gig work? 

According to Lekha Chakraborty, a professor at the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy in Delhi, the appeal of seasonal or flexible work lies in its compatibility with women’s existing responsibilities.“The division of labour within the households makes them time-poor. This time poverty affects their income generation skills,” she explains.

While the Indian government lacks specific data on female gig workers, the 2024 Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) by the National Statistical Office (NSO) reveals a significant shift: the share of self-employed women among employed women rose to 67.4 per cent in 2023-24, up from 51.9 per cent in 2017-18, the year the first PLFS was published.

“It’s quite likely that a lot of that contribution in urban centres could be coming from gig workers as well,” says Sunaina Kumar, who works with the Centre for New Economic Diplomacy with a focus on gender. 

Kumar emphasises the need for legislation to regulate the gig economy, ensuring greater rights and security for gig workers, especially women. However, she also acknowledges its potential to boost female participation in India’s workforce.

“Women in India especially have been very adept at taking up gig work—it comes naturally to them… whether it is as domestic workers, working on enterprises from home, working on farms, or in other informal jobs,” adds Kumar. The rise of tech-driven, on demand services have further amplified this trend. “Demographic shifts, the booming digital economy, and urbanisation, are factors that have led to more women working,” she explains. 

Technology's Double-Edged Sword: Access and Barriers for Female Gig Workers

Platforms like Urban Company and smaller players like Yes Madam have been instrumental in creating opportunities for women into the gig economy, especially for women offering at-home beauty and massage services. “Urban Company is the dominant platform when it comes to employing female gig workers,” says Sunand, who works with the All India Gig Workers Union (AIGWU) and Centre for Indian Trade Unions in Delhi-NCR.

“We have almost no female gig workers at Swiggy or Uber. They mostly stick to [work that involves] in-home services,” says Sunand, who prefers to go by their first name. This observation is echoed by AIGWU representatives in Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Kolkata, as well as by economist Ria Kasliwal, who has extensively researched the challenges faced by female gig workers in the country. “Even in the gig economy women have been relegated to traditionally feminine jobs, unable to break through into certain sectors,” says Kasliwal. These jobs, traditionally for women, also come with lower pay. “The gender wage gap in the gig economy is yet another matter of concern. Public policy interventions are crucial to provide an enabling environment that will lead to increased transparency and accountability,” adds Chakraborty. 

Challenges faced by female gig workers 

A 2024 GSMA report highlighted the stark gender gap in digital access, revealing that female mobile Internet users in India lagged behind men by 30 per cent in 2023. “The digital divide in India is another reason why women cannot participate in the tech gig economy on the same scale as men. Even if they have a phone, they may not have their own bank account. That’s when it becomes problematic because they aren’t able to build financial autonomy,” states Kasliwal. 

For example, Urban Company workers are required to pay a deposit of up to ₹50,000 for training and supplies, creating financial hurdles for female gig workers, many of whom resort to loans. But without an authenticated bank account, many women cannot access this opportunity. “Some girls have to sell their jewellery or borrow from relatives just to start work,” says 41-year-old Barnali Chowdhury who works for Urban Company in Kolkata. 

Chowdhury has also briefly worked for Uber Moto and Zomato, and shares that access to transport is another hurdle. “Beauticians have to carry a spa table, which means taking a cab—an added expense.  The products they use for the services are also expensive, and the hidden costs pile up quickly,” she adds.

While some female gig workers might earn as much as ₹40,000 a month, notes Chowdhury, much of the income is consumed by hidden costs and expenses. Protests over inadequate rights at Urban Company in 2022 and 2023 across cities in India failed to gain momentum, she says, though the platform remains a crucial source of income for many. However, the workers only receive a fraction of the money after costs for the tools for service are deducted."

“In the end this is still a golden ticket for some. I have a friend who was a fishseller by the side of the road, and after completing her training, is now a beautician. For someone like her, even ₹25,000 in hand a month is a better payout than what she could have ever imagined before,” says Chowdhury. “Many people working in the gig economy are illiterate, so the opportunity to earn a decent salary through dignified work is a significant advantage,” she adds. “For women, the alternative might often be working as househelp or cleaners. Here, they have the freedom of choice to choose the type of work they want to do and set their own schedules. They are their own bosses—you don’t get that anywhere else.”

Safety concerns

The gig economy in India is expanding rapidly, with gig workers projected to comprise 4.1 per cent of the total workforce by 2029-30. However, this growth largely excludes skilled workers as well as workers in rural areas, remaining concentrated in urban centres and sectors such as delivery and home-based work. This limits its broader impact on India’s diverse labour market.

While the projection is a promising indicator for economic growth, its long-term sustainability—that relies on addressing critical issues such as job security, financial stability, traditional employment benefits, and safety, especially for women—remains essential. 

“There are a lot of verification procedures for us [the workers], but we don’t know anything about the customer,” says Rani. “It  could be a man using a woman’s name, for instance. We have to rely on our insitincts—we have to talk to the security guard, assess the area—before deciding to proceed.” 

Kasliwal emphasises that this lack of protection has been largely ignored by most platforms. “[Both] digital and physical safety of workers are major issues. Customers have access to the workers physically in their homes, and to their names and phone numbers too,” she says, adding that there is a lack of redressal mechanism in cases where something does go wrong. 

Rani also highlights the challenges posed by negative reviews. “A customer had once misplaced her ring and accused the worker of stealing it in a review she posted. People started cancelling their orders upon reading that review. Even after the ring was found, the [false] review wasn’t taken down. Customers can then post anything and there is no verification,” she rues. 

The need for legal protection and regulations

In 2020, India legally defined gig workers, including women offering at-home services, as individuals performing work outside of traditional employer-employee relationships, for the first time under its Code on Social Security. This paved the path for the forming of a social security framework for gig workers. However, a gap remains in ensuring rights for gig workers and regulating their working conditions, points out Kumar. 

“The individualistic nature of the job and lack of trade unionism can be challenging. Plus, there is neither a stable income nor is there any job security. The regulatory framework by the government is crucial to mitigate these challenges and to establish workers’ rights in the gig economy,” asserts Chakraborty.

In 2023, Rajasthan became the first state in India to introduce laws regulating the gig economy under the Rajasthan Platform-Based Gig Workers (Registration and Welfare) Act. Meanwhile, Karnataka—India’s tech hub—drafted a more tech-sensitive law: The Karnataka Platform-based Gig Workers (Social Security and Welfare) Bill, 2024. The bill, however, is yet to be passed by the parliament and enacted into law. Other states such as Jharkhand and Telangana have also drafted bills to regulate gig work. Rajasthan’s laws are labour-focused while Karnataka’s approach is forward-looking and aligned with evolving technologies, says Kumar. 

“When it comes to protecting the rights of workers, it is about involving civil society and grassroots organisations. Bringing in laws is one part, but it is crucial to connect female gig workers, such as those offering at-home services through apps—and gig workers in general—to social welfare schemes and to other such networks to operate within the system that already exists,” explains Kumar. 

Despite the challenges, both Rani and Chowdhury acknowledge the financial autonomy and flexibility that the gig economy offers women and state that measures need to be taken to make the system more worker-friendly. “I am a single woman living my life as I want to live it,” says Chowdhury. “I don’t rely entirely on gig work for my earnings, but largely owe my independence to it. Many young women I work alongside feel similarly—they finally have a way to support themselves.” 

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