Socio-Legal Challenges of Domestic Workers under India’s New Labour Code in the Age of Digital Labour Platforms
Author : Virender Kumar Negi, Monika Negi and Shefali Mahendru
Abstract :
The integration of technology and globalization into the labour market has significantly transformed the nature of domestic work, presenting both opportunities and challenges. In the digital age, platforms such as Urban Company, InstaMaid, and BookMyBai have redefined domestic work through gig-based employment models, offering job visibility while simultaneously fostering precarious conditions marked by algorithmic control, lack of job security, irregular income, intrusive surveillance, and diminished autonomy. The growing use of smart home technologies and automation is further displacing human labour, threatening the livelihood of domestic workers. Despite the enactment of India’s New Labour Codes: The Code on Wages 2019, Industrial Relations Code 2020, Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code 2020, and Code on Social Security 2020 domestic workers remain largely excluded from formal recognition and regulatory protection. Though the Code on Social Security includes “unorganised workers,” it fails to specifically address the vulnerabilities that domestic workers face in digital spaces, including data misuse, biometric surveillance, cyber harassment, and the absence of grievance redressal mechanisms. Through a socio-legal lens, underscores the mismatch between technological advancements and the existing labour law framework, calling for explicit legal recognition of domestic workers, the regulation of digital labour platforms, implementation of digital rights, and comprehensive policy reforms. Bridging the gap between law and technology is essential to ensuring the dignity, protection, and empowerment of domestic workers in an increasingly digitized and globalized economy.
Keywords :
Domestic workers, gig economy, urban company, digital platform, unorganized workforce, biometric surveillance, cyber harassment.
