Deliverymen, United—Collective Bargaining and Organization in the Indian Digital Economy

Abstract

The expanding contours of the digital economy enhance the urgency of addressing its exploitative foundations. The feeble labour law legislation governing the partner-platform relationship leaves delivery executives bereft of social security rights and vulnerable to the whims of profit-maximising practices. In resistance to these conditions, delivery executives in many regions have collectivized in order to increase their bargaining power and wrest better terms from their employers. This study contains an investigation into the labour conditions of food delivery executives through an analysis of the existing legislation governing the sphere and the organizational tactics deployed by executives and their representatives. Relying on the innovative judicial conceptualisations put forth by international jurisdictions, the study suggests potential bargaining agreements and state guarantees that can be
secured for this class of workers.