Gig workers to get pension benefits as part of the social security

New Delhi: The ministry of labour and employment will soon firm up a policy to give pension benefits to gig and platform workers through the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation, official sources said on Thursday.

This comes days after finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Budget 2025-26 said the government will provide health cover the gig and platform workers under the PM Jan Aarogya Yojana.

According to an official source, the pension component of the social security will be transaction based and fully funded by the aggregator and would serve as a retirement kitty for gig workers.

Official data shows EPFO settled 50.8 million claims in 2024-25 till date disbursing Rs 2.05 lakh crore, much higher than 44.5 million claims amounting to Rs 1.28 lakh crore settled in 2023-24.

Auto claim settlement by the retirement fund body doubled to 18.7 milion in the current financial year compared to 8.95 million in 2023-24.

"Gig workers of online platforms provide great dynamism to the new-age services economy. Recognising their contribution, our government will arrange for their identity cards and registration on the e-Shram portal,” Sitharaman said in her budget speech.

“They will be provided healthcare under PM Jan Aarogya Yojana,” she said, adding this measure is likely to assist nearly 10 million gig workers.

NITI Aayog pegs India’s gig workforce at 23.5 million by 2029-30.