Some women in India report meaningful income and schedule flexibility from app-based work, but the available evidence does not show that these jobs generally pay women well compared with similar work. Nor does it establish that higher earnings are traded for specific benefits. NITI Aayog’s 2022 survey offers a snapshot of women respondents’ reported platform income and hours; India’s social-security law now provides a framework for gig- and platform-worker schemes, but its commencement does not prove that every benefit is operating or reaching women.
What do women in India report earning from app-based work?
NITI Aayog’s June 2022 report, India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Work, draws on a survey of approximately 700 women inside and outside the platform economy, as well as case studies. The income figures below are self-reported monthly platform-income bands among the women platform-worker respondents in that survey. The platform-worker respondent group was small; these figures are not a nationally representative estimate of women’s earnings, current wage rates, or take-home pay after expenses.
| Survey measure | Reported result |
|---|---|
| Monthly platform income below INR 10,000 | 5% of women platform-worker respondents |
| Monthly platform income of INR 10,000–25,000 | 39% of women platform-worker respondents |
| Monthly platform income of INR 25,000–40,000 | 34% of women platform-worker respondents |
| Monthly platform income of INR 40,000–75,000 | 20% of women platform-worker respondents |
| Monthly platform income above INR 75,000 | 2% of women platform-worker respondents |
| Platform work named as primary income source | 75% of women platform-worker respondents |
The bands describe reported platform income, not verified earnings net of fuel, vehicle or phone costs, commissions, unpaid waiting time, or other work-related expenses. The report does not provide a gender-disaggregated comparison of net earnings against equivalent non-platform jobs, or establish how predictable the reported amounts were.
How flexible is platform work for women?
The NITI Aayog report presents schedule flexibility as a potential advantage for women balancing paid work with unpaid care responsibilities. But the reported hours also show variation: 38% of the women platform-worker respondents said they worked 5–25 hours a week, while 29% said they worked more than 40 hours a week. These survey responses do not show that every worker can choose when work is available, secure enough assignments, or earn adequately within the hours she prefers.
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“App-based gig work” also covers varied arrangements and tasks. A platform may connect a worker to a customer or assign work, but the degree of control over timing, pay, and workload can differ. Flexibility is therefore best understood as a possible feature of particular jobs, not a guarantee of control or a substitute for measuring earnings and working conditions.
Do women gig workers in India get social security?
India’s Code on Social Security, 2020 took effect on 21 November 2025, according to subsequent government statements. The Code provides for schemes for gig and platform workers in areas that include life and disability cover, accident insurance, health and maternity benefits, and old-age protection. That is a statutory framework for schemes; commencement alone does not establish that each benefit is fully operational, that every worker is eligible or enrolled, or that women are receiving adequate coverage.
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The Ministry’s 2026 FAQ says the aggregator contribution used to fund gig-worker schemes under the Code is to be notified by the Central Government. Readers should distinguish the law’s commencement from later rules or notifications, the design and launch of particular schemes, registration or eligibility, and actual receipt of benefits. The available material does not establish current gender-disaggregated take-up or adequacy of coverage.
What do “gig worker” and “platform worker” mean?
The terms are related but are not interchangeable in every legal or policy context. The V. V. Giri National Labour Institute explains a gig worker as someone who earns from work outside a traditional employer–employee relationship. The Code’s platform-work definition, as reproduced by the Institute, describes “a work arrangement outside of a traditional employer-employee relationship” in which an online platform connects parties to provide services or solve specific problems.
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Outbyte PC Repair FREERepair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →NITI Aayog also cautions that the overall workforce is difficult to count: workers may be called “partners,” work through task-based arrangements, and not be captured directly in official statistics. Its estimate of 7.7 million gig and platform workers in 2020–21 and projection of 23.5 million by 2029–30 concern the total workforce, not women alone. NITI Aayog described its estimate as “only indicative and may not represent the true size of the gig workforce.”
How should women compare an app-based job with other work?
A reported income band alone cannot show whether a job is financially better. A fair comparison should use the same period and account for the conditions that shape both earnings and security:
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- Net earnings: subtract work expenses and platform deductions from receipts, rather than comparing gross platform income with take-home wages.
- All work time: include waiting, travel between assignments, and time spent seeking or completing tasks, not just time on an active paid task.
- Reliability and control: consider how predictable assignments and pay are, and whether the worker can actually choose her hours.
- Protection: check eligibility, enrollment, and actual access to health, maternity, accident, disability, and old-age support, as well as safety and grievance processes.
NITI Aayog’s survey supplies useful reported income, hours, and flexibility evidence, but not a like-for-like comparison across these measures. Its report recommends expanding social protection and using the Code as a framework. An ILO India project running from January 2023 to April 2024 supported policy development and social dialogue around schemes for location-based platform workers; neither source establishes current benefit receipt or adequacy for women.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the evidence establishes—and what it does not
The 2022 survey shows that many of its women platform-worker respondents relied on platform work as a primary income source and reported a range of monthly income and weekly hours. It supports neither the broad claim that app-based jobs pay women better than comparable work nor the claim that women necessarily lose specific social-security benefits in exchange. The 2025 commencement of the Code is an important legal change, but current evidence cited here does not show whether women workers are enrolled in, receiving, or adequately protected by particular schemes.
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