On 27th May 2025, the Karnataka Platform-Based Gig Workers (Social Security and Welfare) Ordinance, 2025 was promulgated by the Governor of Karnataka and published in the Extraordinary Gazette, making it the second state in India to pass a legislation in the interests of gig and platform workers.
The International Alliance of App-Based Transport Workers (IAATW) has recently released a report titled ‘South Asia Shadow Report on Platform Work Standards’ prepared on the basis of detailed survey and testimonials of app based workers of India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. The report divides the issues being faced by app-based workers into 5 broad categories, identifies violations and makes recommendations.
Politically, 2024 saw the BJP government face a significant setback in the national elections. At the same time, the year saw a number of workers’ struggles from various sectors, protesting the anti-worker policies of not only the BJP as prime perpetrator, but also various other oppositional governments and private establishments who share the same crony corporate capitalist mores.
Spain approved a pioneering law on 11 May that gives delivery platforms a mid-August deadline to hire workers currently freelancing for them and that requires transparency of artificial intelligence used to manage workforces.
The royal decree passed by the centre-left ruling coalition immediately affects some 30,000 couriers. It comes in the wake of a ruling by Spain's top court last year and at a time when other countries in Europe and elsewhere are deciding on a labour model for the so-called gig economy, which is often blamed for precarious jobs and low salaries.