Telangana gig worker rules: 7 days’ notice before removal, platforms to pay welfare fee

Delivery riders, cab drivers and other app-based workers in Telangana now have written rules on how they can be removed, how quickly they must be paid and who funds their welfare. The State government notified the Telangana gig worker rules on Saturday, 14 November, in G.O.Ms.No.18, and they take effect once published in the Gazette.

They complete the Telangana Platform Based Gig Workers (Registration, Social Security and Welfare) Act, 2026, notified in the Gazette on 28 April and in force since 2 June. On Friday, 13 November, as Hyderabad opened the Bharat Summit, Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy said Telangana now had the country’s best policy for gig workers.

Seven days’ notice, and a human signs off

A platform dropping a worker must give seven days’ written notice, with reasons in a language the worker understands, hold a fair enquiry and give its written decision within seven days of the enquiry ending. A removal flagged by an automated system stands only after a company HR officer approves it and records why. Instant removal is allowed only for a clear and imminent threat to a customer, such as an offence under Chapters V or VI of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita backed by a complaint or FIR, or material and financial fraud; the worker must then get the reason within 24 hours.

Earnings must reach the account tied to the worker’s ID within seven days of each payout cycle closing, with a digital statement of gross pay, every deduction and net pay. Refusing a task cannot cost a worker ratings or jobs. Any change in terms needs 14 days’ notice, and a worker may leave in that window without losing money already earned.

The platform pays the welfare fee

Every payout will attract a welfare fund fee, at a rate the government will notify separately, capped at 2% of the transaction. The platform bears all of it: the fee cannot be cut from earnings or clawed back through lower rates, and tips and incentives stay out of the sum. A platform that does not pay is fined Rs 50,000, Rs 1,00,000 and Rs 1,50,000 for its first three defaults, and five times the fee due after that.

Workers can sign up on the welfare board’s portal, through a platform’s app or at a Common Service Centre, and should get an Aadhaar-linked Gig Identification Number within 15 working days, valid on every app for life unless the board cancels it. Platforms with at least 100 workers in the State must form a dispute committee that rules within 30 days. Life, accident, medical and maternity cover and old-age protection await schemes the board has yet to notify.