Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Plea on PF Benefits for Gig Economy Workers

Defining the Employer-Employee Relationship

The Supreme Court issued notices to the Union Ministry of Labour and major aggregator platforms. The core legal question is whether the algorithm-driven control over gig workers satisfies the traditional tests for an employer-employee relationship.

If recognized as 'employees' for the purpose of the EPF Act, aggregators may face massive retrospective liabilities, fundamentally altering the unit economics of the gig economy model in India.