Section 2 explained: this guide covers what it means, who it applies to, the step-by-step process, documents required, fees, due dates and penalties in India — so you can stay compliant with confidence and avoid costly mistakes.
The Code on Social Security, 2020 is the first Indian labour statute to define gig workers and platform workers and to give them a social security framework. This article explains the clauses in section 2 that define them and the unorganised-sector categories around them: s.2(2), (35), (36), (54), (60), (61), (75), (85), (86) and (90).
A gig worker performs work or takes part in a work arrangement and earns outside a traditional employer-employee relationship. A platform worker is a person engaged in platform work, which uses an online platform to connect organisations or individuals for services, for payment. An aggregator is a digital intermediary or marketplace connecting a buyer or user with a seller or service provider. An unorganised worker is a home-based worker, self-employed worker or wage worker in the unorganised sector (an enterprise with fewer than ten workers), and includes certain organised-sector workers not covered by the other Chapters.
The gig economy definitions
| Clause | Term | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 2(35) | Gig worker | A person who performs work or participates in a work arrangement and earns from such activities outside of traditional employer-employee relationship |
| 2(60) | Platform work | A work arrangement outside of a traditional employer-employee relationship in which organisations or individuals use an online platform to access other organisations or individuals to solve specific problems or to provide specific services, or other activities the Central Government notifies, in exchange for payment |
| 2(61) | Platform worker | A person engaged in or undertaking platform work |
| 2(2) | Aggregator | A digital intermediary or a market place for a buyer or user of a service to connect with the seller or the service provider |
Two points stand out. First, a gig worker is defined by the absence of an employer-employee relationship, so the Code's Chapter IX scheme is built for people who would not be "employees" under s.2(26); see our note on the employee definition. Second, "platform worker" is tied to an online platform, and the Central Government can notify other activities as platform work.
Businesses that sit between workers and customers should check whether they fit the aggregator definition. Our labour law compliance team can help assess that.
Where these terms are used
The Code attaches obligations to them in later sections, which this series covers in detail:
- Registration of unorganised, gig and platform workers under s.113 (sixteen years of age or such age as the Central Government prescribes, plus a self-declaration and an application with documents including the Aadhaar number).
- Schemes for gig and platform workers under s.114 on life and disability cover, accident insurance, health and maternity benefits, old age protection, crèche and other benefits, which may provide for the role of aggregators. Under s.114(4), an aggregator's contribution is at a rate not exceeding two per cent. but not less than one per cent. of annual turnover, as the Central Government notifies, for aggregators in the categories listed in the Seventh Schedule, and not exceeding five per cent. of the amount paid or payable to gig and platform workers.
- The National Social Security Board serves gig and platform workers, with a different board composition for that purpose under s.114(6).
Read more in sections 113 and 114. The rate is not fixed in the Code; it is as notified, so check the latest notification.
Unorganised sector and unorganised worker
| Clause | Term | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 2(85) | Unorganised sector | An enterprise owned by individuals or self-employed workers, engaged in production or sale of goods or providing service of any kind, and where the enterprise employs workers, the number of such workers is less than ten |
| 2(54) | Organised sector | An enterprise which is not an unorganised sector |
| 2(86) | Unorganised worker | A home-based worker, self-employed worker or wage worker in the unorganised sector; includes a worker in the organised sector who is not covered by the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 or Chapters III to VII of the Code |
| 2(36) | Home-based worker | A person engaged in the production of goods or services for an employer in his home or other premises of his choice other than the employer's workplace, for remuneration, whether or not the employer provides equipment, materials or other inputs |
| 2(75) | Self-employed worker | A person not employed by an employer who engages himself in any occupation in the unorganised sector subject to a monthly earning the Central or State Government notifies, or who holds cultivable land subject to a ceiling the State Government notifies |
| 2(90) | Wage worker | A person employed for remuneration in the unorganised sector, directly by an employer or through any contractor, irrespective of place of work, whether for one employer or several, in cash or kind, whether as a home-based worker, temporary or casual worker, migrant worker or household worker including domestic workers, with a monthly wage the Central and State Governments notify |
The monthly earning for self-employed workers and the monthly wage for wage workers are as notified. The Code does not give a figure in these clauses, so this article does not either.
The organised-sector limb
Section 2(86) does not stop at the unorganised sector. It extends "unorganised worker" to a worker in the organised sector who is not covered by the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 or Chapters III to VII of the Code. An organised-sector enterprise is simply one that is not an unorganised sector enterprise (for example, an individual-owned enterprise with ten or more workers). A worker there who falls outside the EPF, ESI, gratuity, maternity benefit and employee's compensation Chapters (III to VII) may therefore still be an unorganised worker for Chapter IX schemes.
Example. A food-delivery rider who accepts orders through an app and is paid per delivery earns outside an employer-employee relationship and through an online platform. Such a rider can be both a gig worker and a platform worker. A tailor who stitches garments at home for a garment maker is a home-based worker under s.2(36), and, if in the unorganised sector and within the notified wage limit, a wage worker under s.2(90).
Need help with gig and platform compliance?
If you run or use a platform that engages gig workers, or you contract home-based or household workers, the classification affects registration, scheme participation and any aggregator contribution. Our labour law compliance team can help map your worker categories to the Code. Bring your worker agreements and platform terms.
Key takeaways
- Gig worker means earning outside a traditional employer-employee relationship; platform worker means engaged in platform work through an online platform.
- An aggregator is a digital intermediary or marketplace connecting buyers and service providers.
- The unorganised sector is an enterprise with fewer than ten workers; the organised sector is everything else.
- Unorganised worker covers home-based, self-employed and wage workers, and some organised-sector workers outside the Chapters III to VII and the old Industrial Disputes Act.
- Earning and wage limits for self-employed and wage workers are set by notification, not in section 2.
Read next
- Sections 113 and 114: registration and schemes for gig and platform workers
- Sections 109 to 112: schemes for unorganised workers
- Section 2: definitions of wages and contribution
- Maternity benefit for contract and gig workers
Disclaimer: Based on the Code on Social Security, 2020 (as enacted) and, where noted, the Code on Social Security (Central) Rules, 2026 (G.S.R. 344(E), 8 May 2026), as on 30 September 2026. The Code is in force from 21 November 2025; some provisions may be notified later, and State Governments make their own rules for establishments where the State is the appropriate Government. Verify the current position before acting.