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GOVERNMENT OF KARNATAKA

NO: LD 413 LET 2023

Karnataka Government Secretariat,

Vikasa Soudha,

Bangalore, dated: 30/06/2025

NOTIFICATION

The draft of the Karnataka Platform based Gig Workers (Social Security and

Welfare) Rules, 2025 which the Government of Karnataka proposes to make in

exercise of the powers conferred by section 28 of the Karnataka Platform Based Gig

Workers (Social Security and Welfare) Ordinance, 2025 (Karnataka Ordinance no

04 of 2025) is hereby published as required by sub-section (1) of section 28 of the

said Act, for the information of all the persons likely to be affected thereby and

notice is hereby given that the said draft will be taken into consideration after the

expiry of thirty days from the date of its publication in the Official Gazette.

Any objection or suggestion which may be received by the State Government

from any person with respect to the said draft before the expiry of the period

specified above will be considered by the State Government. Objections and

suggestions may be addressed to the Secretary to Government, Labour

Department, Vikasa Soudha, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Veedhi, Bengaluru.

DRAFT RULES

1. Title and commencement.- (1) These rules may be called the Karnataka

Platform based Gig Workers (Social Security and Welfare) Rules, 2025.

(2) They shall come into force from the date of their final publication in the

Official Gazette.

2. Definition.- (1) In these rules, unless the context otherwise requires

(a) “Ordinance” means The Karnataka Platform based Gig Workers (Social

Security and Welfare) Ordinance, 2025 (Karnataka Ordinance No. 04 of

2025);

(b) “Chairperson” means the chairperson of the Board;

Government under sub-section (7) of section 22;

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(d) “Member” means a member of the Board; and

(e) “Section” means a section of the Ordinance.

(2) All other words and expressions used but not defined in these rules shall

have the same meaning as assigned to them in the Ordinance.

3. Allowances for nominated members of the Board.- (1) When a vacancy

occurs or is likely to occur in the Membership of the Board, the Member-Secretary

shall report to the State Government and on receipt of such report, the State

Government may, by notification, nominate a person to fill the vacancy and the

person so nominated shall hold office for the remainder of the term of office of the

member in whose place he is nominated.

(2) The travelling allowance of an official member of the Board shall

be governed by the rules applicable to him for journey performed by him on

official duties and shall be paid by the authority paying his salary.

(3) The non-official members of the Board shall be entitled to the

payment of travelling and daily allowance as per the provisions of Payment

Travelling

Allowance

(to

Non-official

Members

Committees,

Commissions or other Bodies) Rules, 2001, Annexure-A of Karnataka Civil

Services Rules.

4. The time, place and procedure for meetings of the Board.- (1) Every

matter which the Board is required to take in to consideration shall be

considered at a meeting of the Board, or if the Chairperson so directs, by

circulation of resolution among the members and shall be passed by a

simple majority of votes, where there is no consensus on a matter and the

members of the Board are equally divided, the Chairperson shall have the

deciding vote.

Explanation.- The expression “Chairperson” for the purpose of the

above provision shall include a member nominated or chosen under sub-

rule (2) of rule 10 to preside over a meeting.

(2) The Board shall meet at such places and at such times as may be

decided by the Chairperson but shall meet at least once in three months.

(3) The Chairperson shall preside over every meeting of the Board in

which he is present and in his absence he may nominate a member of the

Board to preside over such meeting in his place and in the absence of such

nomination by the Chairperson, the members of the Board present in such

meeting may choose one member from amongst themselves to preside over

the meeting.

(4) Ordinarily, two weeks’ notice shall be given to the members of the

Board of a proposed meeting:

Provided that the Chairperson, if he is satisfied that it is necessary so

to do, may give notice of longer period not exceeding one month for such

meeting.

(5) No business except which is included in the list of business for a

meeting of the Board shall be considered at the meeting without the

permission of the Chairperson.

(6) The Chairperson may at any time call a special meeting of the

Board in case of urgency, after informing the members in advance about

the subject-matter of discussion and the reason of urgency.

(7) The State Government may prohibit any member, other than ex

officio members, from taking part in the Meeting of the Board if,-

(a) The member absents himself from three consecutive meetings of the

Board without written information and consent of the Chairperson; or

(b) The member in the opinion of the State Government has ceased to

represent the interest which he purports to represent on the Board.

5. Maintenance of proper accounts, annual statements of accounts including

balance sheet and other relevant records.- (1) The accounts of the Board shall

be prepared and maintained by the Board and shall be audited by the Auditors

appointed by the Board once a year.

(2) The annual statement of account of the Board shall be in the approved

format and in consultation with the Accountant general of the state. The format

and procedures for annual statement of accounts shall be prepared in consultation

with the Accountant general of the state by the Board.

(3) The Board shall send a copy of the annual statement of accounts, together

with the copy of the report of auditor to the State Government before the 30^th of

April every year.”

(4) The State Government may, after perusal of the report of the auditor, give

such directions, as it thinks fit, to the Board and the Board shall comply with such

directions.

6. The date of submission of the audited report by the Board.- (1) The

Board shall submit to the Karnataka State Legislature as soon as may be after the

1st of April every year and not later than 31st day of December an Annual Report,

a soft and hard copies as may be required on the working of the Board during

preceding year ending on 31st march of the year along with audited copies of

Accounts together with an auditor’s report.

(2) Books of accounts, register and other records.- (a) The Board shall

maintain cash register, assets register and all the books of accounts.

(b) The Board shall maintain required books of accounts for the purpose

specified in rules 5.

workers and claims in electronic format securely.

(d) The Board may maintain such records and registers as it consider

necessary.

7. Providing the database of Gig workers on boarded or registered.-

(1) Every Aggregator or platform shall, in pursuant to sub-section (1) of section 10

of the Ordinance, electronically submit in a machine-readable format the database

of all Gig workers, on a secure digital portal designated for this purpose. The

aggregators or platforms shall also update the Board on any changes in the number

of Gig workers on a quarterly basis, reflecting new additions and separations

during the reporting period:

Provided that, where an Aggregator or platform is unable to comply with the

requirements set forth in sub-section(1) of section 10 of the Ordinance, such

Aggregator or platform may apply in writing to the Board, explaining the

challenges and requesting an extension of sixty working days or rectification of

the issue whichever is later.

Provided further that, compliance with the submission timeline stipulated

herein be prevented solely due to a demonstrable technical failure or

unavailability of the designated digital portal, the said timeline for submission

shall stand extended by a period of five working days from the original due date.

Provided that, information of only such Gig workers shall be provided to the

Board who have been engaged as Gig workers with the Aggregator for not less than

ninety days and has completed at least one Gig with the Aggregator.

(2) The Board shall notify all registered Aggregators of the designated portal

Uniform Resource Locator including required data schema, security protocols,

and authentication mechanisms, not later than thirty days prior to the deadline

stipulated in sub-section(1) of section (10) of the Ordinance.

(3) All data transfers under this rule shall utilize current, secure transport

layer security (TLS) encryption or such other additional encryption standards as

may be specified by the Board.

(4)The digital portal provided under sub-rule(1), shall contain the following

data fields for each Gig worker, as available in the Aggregator's data base provided

by the Gig worker during on boarding or registration.-

(a) Name;

(b) Registered Mobile Number;

(d) UAN number as generated on the e-Shram portal.

(5) The Board shall be wholly responsible for implementing and maintain

appropriate technical and organizational security measures and confidentiality of

the data and adhere to the applicable laws on data protection.

8. Updating any changes in the number of Gig workers.- (1) An Aggregator

shall update the Board of any increase or decrease in the number of Gig workers

on-boarded or registered with the Aggregator in the following manner.-

(a) Update on a quarterly basis, the change in the number of Gig workers on

boarded with the Aggregator on the web portal designated by the Board. This shall

include numbers that reflect the added and separated Gig workers associated with

the Aggregator during the preceding quarter.

(b) The Aggregator shall have seek an extension for uploading details on the

portal by writing to the Board and the Board there after grant such extension as it

may deem fit.

9. Registration of the aggregators or platform by the Board.- (1) Every

Aggregator shall, register itself on the web portal designated by the Board uploading

all the information as required on the portal which shall include registered name,

authorized person, address, email address, PAN, GST and CIN number.

Provided that, in case it is unable to register itself due to any technical issues

contact the Board for appropriate action.

(2) For the purposes of registration under sub-section (1) of section 11, where

a person or body corporate or group operates multiple distinct aggregators or

platforms falling within the scope of this Ordinance, a single registration shall be

required for that legal entity.

(3) Where a person or body corporate or group registered under this sub- rule,

subsequently commences operating a new and distinct aggregator or platform

within the State, or brings an existing aggregator or platform under its operation,

such entity shall notify the Board of this addition within sixty working days of the

date of commencing operations of such new aggregator or platform.

Provided that, where an Aggregator or platform is demonstrably prevented

from completing its registration within the timeline stipulated under sub-section

(1) of section 11 due solely to technical malfunctions or unavailability of the

designated registration portal, the Board upon satisfying itself shall grant an

extension not exceeding sixty working days.

10. Publishing the register of aggregators or platform by the Board on its

web portal.- (1) The Board shall maintain a register of Aggregators or platform

containing the particulars of all Aggregators or platform registered under the

Ordinance, and shall publish such register on its official website quarterly.

(2) The register of aggregators shall contain the following namely:-

(a) The registered legal name of the Aggregator entity.

(b) The registration number assigned by the Board pursuant to the

Ordinance.

(d) Corporate Identification Number (CIN), Goods and Services Tax (GST)

registration number, and Permanent Account Number (PAN).

(e) The email and mobile number of the authorized person so designated at

point of contact nominated by the aggregator.

(f) The address of the Aggregator's registered office or principal place of

business within the State, as provided during registration:

Provided that, the register of aggregators or platform shall not contain any

commercial, operational or financial data or other financial metrics.

11. To seek information regarding automated monitoring and decision-

making systems.- (1) Every Aggregator or platform shall publish a designated

mechanism on its platform to enable platform based Gig workers to reach out to

the Aggregator or platform for seeking information regarding fares, earnings and

customer feedback which may have an impact on the Gig workers.

(2) The Aggregators or platform shall respond to the queries of the Gig worker

within thirty working days of receipt of the same:

Provided that, disclosure of algorithms, source code, detailed operational logic,

system architecture or technical designs are not part of the information that can

be sought by the Gig workers.

(3) The Aggregator or platform shall only be required to provide the

aforementioned information required herein above to such Gig worker(s) who have

completed at least one Gig in the preceding ninety days for the Aggregator.

12. Right to appeal by the Gig worker.- (1) Any Gig worker who is aggrieved

by a decision of the Aggregator or platform for termination may appeal to the

Internal Dispute Resolution Committee of the Aggregator or platform with

supporting documents and information, within a period of seven working days from

the receipt of intimation about termination from the Aggregator’s platform.

(2) The Aggregator or platform shall, through the Internal Dispute Resolution

Committee constituted under section 22 of the Ordinance, deal with such appeal

and shall make an endeavor to resolve the appeal within fifteen working days from

the receipt of appeal.

(3) The Aggregator or platform shall have the right to dismiss any appeals that

are frivolous, vexatious, and repetitive by providing the reason(s) for such dismissal

of the Gig worker.

(4) Any party aggrieved by the final decision may with all supporting

documents prefer an appeal within thirty days to the authorized person of the

Board.

(5) The Board shall conduct the appeal procedures as per the By-law approved

by the Government.

13. Sector specific occupational safety and health standards.- (1) The

Board through its approved By-Law specify sector specific occupational safety and

health standards and SOPs in consultation with members of the Board and other

invited specialists on occupational safety and health standards.

(2) Compliances by the aggregators under sub rule (1) shall be within a

maximum period of six months from the date of communicating sector specific

occupational safety and health standards or after been published in the official

portal of the Board.

14. Publishing of disclosure obligations.- (1) Every Aggregator shall make

the information on the grievance redressal mechanism and dispute resolution

mechanism accessible to platform based Gig workers on its digital platform.

(2) Disclosure obligations under sub rule (1) shall comprise of handling instant

grievances, insurance and welfare schemes if any, termination and deactivation

procedures, accident relief and reaching out to legal heirs, handling sexual

harassment and physical harassment complaints, social security claims.

15. Sums received from any other sources.- The following shall also be

considered as funds receivable by the Board under clause (v) of sub section (1) of

section 19 of the Act.- (1) Any voluntary contributions made by Aggregators over

and above the mandatory Welfare Fee towards Karnataka Gig Worker’s Social

Security and Welfare Fund will be considered as Corporate Social Responsibility

(CSR) initiative under the Companies Act, 2013.

(2) Any voluntary contributions made by Aggregators over and above the

mandatory Welfare Fee will qualify for income tax deductions under the provisions

of Income Tax Act, 1961.

16. Utilization and management of fund.- (1) The Board shall have exclusive

powers to determine the specific manner, priorities, and allocations for the

utilization of the Fund towards schemes, welfare measures and its administrative

expenses.

(2) The Board shall through its resolution and an annual budget, after

approval from the Government in each financial year, shall serve as the binding

directive for all expenditure incurred from the Fund.

(3) The Board shall ensure proper maintenance of accounts and records for

the Fund, managed with due financial prudence.

(4) The Board shall, for every financial year, submit a report along with audited

financial statements to the State Government which shall be laid along with the

annual report in the State Legislature.

17. Collection of welfare fee.- (1) The State Government shall collect the

Welfare Fee as prescribed under sub-section (3) of section 20 of the Ordinance in

the following manner:

(2) The Aggregator shall within thirty working days from the end of each

quarter, automatically calculate the Welfare Fee and self declare such welfare fee

on a quarterly basis in a simple standardized format pay the welfare fee

equivalent to1-5% of each Payout made to the gig worker to be notified by the

Government from time to time.

18. Deposit of the welfare fee by the aggregator or platform.- (1) The

Aggregator shall through any RBI permitted banking modes and on a quarterly

basis, remit the Welfare Fee electronically in the Board bank account/Treasury

details of which shall be available on the Portal.

(2) In case of any excess or incorrect contribution of Welfare Fee, paid by any

aggregator, such aggregator shall claim the refund of such excess amount within

ninety days from the Board.

(3) The designated authority of the Board shall hear such claims as appropriate

it deems fit and pass an appropriate order either to refund or not to refund such

excess amount within a period not exceeding thirty days from the date of receipt

of such claim.

19. Reconciliation of welfare fee.- The Board shall have powers to

consider any reconciliation of welfare fee if the aggregators are liable to pay the

contribution under any other law that may be applicable with specific reference to

welfare fee that are payable within the State of Karnataka.

20. Payment made to platform based Gig workers and the welfare fee

deducted shall be recorded on the Payment and Welfare Fee Verification

System (PWFVS) for each transaction.- (1) Every Aggregator shall record

specified details of payouts made to Gig workers and associated Welfare Fee

deductions on the system designated by the Board by electronically uploading

the required data to the Verification System in a machine-readable format every

quarter.

(2) Transactions data of a particular quarter shall be uploaded as a batch file

by the Aggregator on a quarterly basis and within a period of thirty working days

from the end of each quarter and shall include the following fields.-

(a) Unique ID generated by the Board to the gig worker;

(b) e-Shram Universal Account Number (UAN);

(d) Welfare Fee remitted;

(e) Date of transaction; and

(f) Platform identifier

21. The composition and procedure of the Internal Dispute Resolution

Committee.- Every Aggregator for the purposes of grievance redressal through

Internal Dispute Resolution Committee (IDRC) required pursuant to sub-section

(2) of section 22 of the Ordinance, ensure that.-

(i)

Every registered aggregator shall constitute an Internal Dispute Resolution

Committee (IDRC) to receive all grievances raised by the gig workers

through their official portal and in certain circumstances through human

point of contact.

(ii)

The Internal Dispute Resolution Committee (IDRC) shall provide details of

the procedures of grievance redressal mechanism in their portal and shall

regularly hold meetings to resolve grievances of the gig workers.

(iii)

All decisions of the Internal Dispute Resolution Committee (IDRC) shall be

in writing and by following due process of law shall resolve amicably the

grievances within the timeline as prescribed under the Ordinance.

(iv)

Parties aggrieved by the decisions of Internal Dispute Resolution

Committee (IDRC) shall prefer reconsideration with the Board whose

decision shall be final.

22. Disposal of the petition.- (1) The Internal Dispute Resolution

Committee shall upon receipt of the grievance petition review the grievance and

may call upon the Gig worker for any additional clarification or necessary

documents to analyse and conclude the grievance.

(2) Internal Dispute Resolution Committee shall within a fourteen working

days provide an action taken report to the Gig worker after following due process

of law. Delay in providing any clarification by the Gig worker, the time line of

fourteen working days shall be extended and initiated from the day the

clarification is provided to the Internal Dispute Resolution Committee.

(3) Failure either on the part of Internal Dispute Resolution Committee or

Gig worker to reach out each other for any clarification, the Internal Dispute

Resolution Committee shall reserve its rights to dismiss such grievance

petition.

(4) The Internal Dispute Resolution Committee shall have the right to

dismiss any grievance petitions that are frivolous, vexatious, fraudulent,

repetitive, non-maintainable by intimating the Gig worker of the reason for such

dismissal.

(5) Gig worker aggrieved by the decision of the Internal Dispute Resolution

Committee as under sub-rule (4) shall have the right to prefer reconsideration

with the Board.

23. Disposal of petition by the Grievance Redressal Officer.- (1) A Gig

worker registered under the Ordinance may file an application in the specified

format either in person or through web portal or any other mode before the

Grievance Redressal officer in relation to any grievance arising out of

entitlements, social security payments and other benefits provided by the Board

under the Ordinance.

(2) The grievance redressal officer shall review and grant relief of all grievances

arising out of entitlements, social security payments and other benefits that the

Gig worker is entitled under the Ordinance and Rules made thereunder which

has been referred to him either by the Gig worker himself under sub rule (1) or

platforms within the time frame fixed under the Karnataka Sakala Services Act,

2011 (Karnataka Act No. 01 of 2012).

24. The manner of disposal of appeal.- (1) The Appellate Authority shall

on receiving an appeal under sub section (10) of section 22 of the ordinance shall

within ninety days dispose of the appeal petition by following due process of law

and observing principles of natural justice and pass appropriate orders.

(2) The orders passed by the appellate authority under sub-rule (1), shall be

communicated to the Board within seven days and the Board shall implement

such orders within sixty days.

25. Time frame for the Aggregator or Platform to pay Interest for

delayed payment of the welfare fee.- The Aggregator shall be liable to pay an

interest for delayed payment of the Welfare Fee if the Aggregator fails to pay the

said welfare fee within thirty working days from the end of each quarter:

Provided that, the Aggregator shall not be liable for payment of any interest

if the Aggregator was unable to pay the welfare fee due to any technical failure of

the Payment and Welfare Fee Verification System (PWFVS) portal within the

extended period of another thirty days.

26. Manner of dealing with non-compliance.- The Board shall be the

competent authority to deal with any non compliance under sub-section (3) of

section 23 of the Ordinance.

27. The manner of recovery of fine in case of non-payment.- (1) In case

of any outstanding or non-payment of welfare fee payable by the Aggregator or

Platform, a notice to that effect shall be issued to the Aggregator by the Board.

(2) The Board shall pass an order imposing a fine as stipulated under sub

section (2) of section 23 after extending an opportunity to be heard of the opposite

party.

(3) The fines so levied under sub-section (2) of section 23 shall be deposited

in the account of the Board within thirty days of the passing of the order by the

Board.

28. The manner for imposition of fines.- (1) In case of any contravention

of the provisions of the Ordinance or Rules made thereunder the Aggregator or

platform, a notice to that effect shall be issued to the Aggregator or platform by

the Board.

(2) The Board shall pass an order imposing a fine as stipulated under sub

section (2) of section 23 of the ordinance after extending an opportunity to being

heard by the opposite party.

(3) The fines so levied under sub-section (2) shall be deposited in the account

of the Board within thirty days of the passing of the order by the Board.

(4) Any aggregator or platform aggrieved by the order passed under rule 280

may prefer reconsideration with the State Government within thirty days of

receiving of the order under sub-rule (2).

29. The manner of submission of quarterly return by aggregator or

platform.- The Aggregator or platform shall submit to the Board quarterly return

as required under section 24 of the Ordinance in the following manner,-

(i) Upload within a maximum of thirty working days from the end of each

quarter, quarterly returns electronically in machine-readable format on

the portal as developed and designated by the State Government for

implementation of this Ordinance; and

(ii) The quarterly returns shall include information such as city, UAN

number and others as notified by the State Government.

By order and in the name of

Governor of Karnataka,

H.R. Anuradha

Deputy Secretary to Government,

Labour Department.

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Date: 2025.07.02 17:29:06 +05'30'