When you've to choose between income and isolation

In a video circulated widely on WhatsApp this week, Mohan Kumar, a cab driver, talks about how staying home amid the Covid-19 crisis was simply not an option for him. Keeping off roads for a week would leave him struggling to feed his family, forget paying monthly instalments for his car. It’s the same for lakhs of gig-economy workers in the country, whose health, jobs and incomes are under severe stress because of coronavirus.While working professionals avoid visiting offices, logging in remotely instead, and more families limit movement and outside exposure to protect themselves, gig workers take risks by ferrying people and delivering food, groceries and medicine. But the sector is not immune to the widespread disruption wreaked by coronavirus. Demand for food delivery and cabs has fallen sharply, and the volumes are expected to slide further over the next two weeks. This will deal another blow to this workforce, whose financial situation is uncertain and fragile even during normal course. medium74769150Though order volumes have dropped, commission or incentive structures have not changed, which is putting the staff under more pressure. But the question weighing heavily on their mind is: “what happens if I am quarantined over suspected exposure, will I be compensated?” Around the world, gig workers are generally viewed as contractors by companies and don’t always get access to normal employee benefits and protections such as sick pay and guaranteed salary. In India, Amazon, Uber and Flipkart have said they will offer financial assistance to the affected delivery staff. However, it’s not clear what will be the level of support. “Perhaps we can manage not going (out) for one or two days, but not for long periods. How will I earn a living or pay EMI?” Kumar said in his plea, requesting government intervention. “There should be a moratorium on EMIs. We are not treated on a par with employees (of formal economy).” On March 19, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the government had formed a task force, led by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, to deal with the economic impact of Covid-19. “People are not stepping out that much and drivers are also scared. Food orders have decreased as many restaurants are shut. Eighty per cent of Ola and Uber drivers in Maharashtra have EMIs to pay for their vehicles. Some food delivery boys also have financing arrangements for their bikes,” said Mahesh Jadhav, president of the Marathi Kamgar Sena, which has about 40,000 driver members. medium74769130The association has made appeals to the Prime Minister’s Office, Reserve Bank of India, Uber, Ola and Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray for some financial relief like interest waiver. “We don’t know how long this will continue. Companies like Ola and Uber gave verbal assurances of some help, but that’s not enough in such times,” Jadhav said. medium74772108N Anbhazagan, general secretary of the Tamil Nadu Call Taxi Drivers and Owners’ Association, said some banks were offering leeway, but the vast majority of gig workers faced strict repayment deadlines which they were unlikely to meet. “I have a Maruti Swift Dzire and I pay Rs 14,000 as EMI. I had taken the loan from a public sector bank, which is giving me grace time because of the current market situation. But drivers with loans from NBFCs [non-banking finance companies] are really getting squeezed. They have received late payment reminders and are being warned of extra penalty charges,” said Anbhazagan. He claimed that despite falling demand, Uber and Ola had not reduced the commission they charge. Drivers pay a part of what they earn from every trip to ride-hailing firms whose platforms they use.boxcontentWORKERS’ CHALLENGES & WORRIES~ World over, many companies don’t regard gig workers as full-time employees. As a result, they miss out on employee benefits such as guaranteed wages and sick leave~ Work from home is, obviously, not an option for cab drivers and delivery agents~ With ride volumes falling sharply, cabbies are unable to meet incentive targets. They have to pay EMI of Rs 15,000 to 30,000 against vehicle loans~Food orders have slowed down, affecting incentives and overall earnings of delivery agents“With fewer people calling rides, we are only earning enough to cover the fuel cost. Earlier, airport drops and pickups used to form 30-40% of our trips on average. This figure is down to zero now. Even bookings for intra city travel have decreased,” he said. Deepak, who works with delivery services startup Dunzo, said his earnings had dipped by at least 30%. “So far, I haven’t heard of any compensation policy for the losses in the wake of coronavirus. I don’t know what happens if I am quarantined for a week or two,” he said. On a regular day, Deepak would have been busy completing a long line of tasks pinging on his phones with little time to assess their day or problems. Kabeer Biswas, co-founder, and CEO of Dunzo, said the industry was reeling from the impact of Covid-19. “It’s definitely taken a hit. People have started ordering less food, though grocery delivery has spiked at least 40-45% on a weekly basis,” he said. Grocery delivery is one segment where demand has soared as people avoid making trips to stores to minimise the risk of infection and stock up out of fear that supplies will dry out. Earlier in the week, TOI reported that online grocers like Bigbasket and Grofers had seen orders double because of panic buying. Hari Menon, co-founder and CEO of Bigbasket, restated on Wednesday that there was unusually high demand for grocery online. To discourage hoarding, the company has now put a limit on the number of items which one can buy in one go. medium74772117On ensuring the interests of employees during challenging times, Menon said: “We have an internal trust, which provides life and accident cover. But we will see how we can take further care of basic needs, if the requirement arises. Our screening is extremely stringent (for consumer and delivery person safety).” The next 10 days, he added, were very important to decide on reactionary measures.Bengaluru-based Rapido, a bike taxi startup, said it had registered a relatively smaller dip in ride volumes, especially in non-metro markets. “So far, the impact on ride volumes has been below 5 per cent. We have started expanding to grocery and food delivery as higher demand can fetch more rides for our drivers. We are urging consumers to tip them after every ride,” said Rapido co-founder Aravind Sanka. The world over, tourism has ground to a halt. It’s a big segment for gig workers, especially cabbies. In some states in India, drivers have faced back-to-back crises. For instance, in Assam, protests and disruptions linked to the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act hit their business earlier this year. And now, coronavirus has brought more bad news. medium74772125“Things had just started to normalise in the first week of March, with business picking up. Now, we are back to square one with more uncertainty,” said Ismail Ali, president of the All Assam Cab Owners’ Association. At least 40% of cabbies’ business comes from tourists. “Forget loans, our immediate headache is paying for food, rent and electricity. Some drivers are so hard-up they don’t have money to put diesel in their vehicles,” Ali said, adding many drivers had defaulted on EMIs, which range between Rs 10,000 and 15,000.Cities across the globe are powering down, ordering businesses to remain shut and denizens to stay indoors, to stem the viral spread. There are growing concerns that the restrictions could drag on. It is this uncertainty that gig workers fear the most.boxcontentCARE MEASURES FIRMS HAVE ANNOUNCEDAmazon ~ If an employee tests positive or is advised to remain in quarantine, company provides two-week paid leave on top of existing leave balance~ Global Amazon Relief Fund of $25 million for delivery partners, associates and Amazon Flex partnersFlipkart~ Leave with Pay, beyond the existing health and life coverageUber~ Two-week pay for drivers whose accounts are temporarily suspended because of coronavirus~ This is effective till April 6, after which it will reassess the situationShadowfax~ The firm — third-party logistics services for food and grocery delivery — has an internal fund of Rs 80 lakh to help delivery fleetDunzo~ It is working with insurance partners to offer an enhanced financial packageOla~ It will offer Rs 1,000 per day, for a maximum of 21 days, to a worker who tests positiveBigbasket~ It has started contactless delivery for consumersTHE DEBATE ON FAIR POLICIESAdvocates of fair policies for gig workers have been long demanding enhanced benefits. While a pandemic may not be the ideal time to introduce major changes, the crisis may prod the government and firms to start examining the issue.Rituparna Chakraborty, co-founder and EVP of TeamLease, one of the largest companies providing blue-collar staffing in the country, said most firms were still not clear about the full measures required to deal with the current situation and help employees. “From a statutory perspective, there is no obligation,” she said, adding that gig workers not attached to a large aggregator were even more vulnerable. Last year, the government unveiled a proposal to strengthen the social safety net for the gig economy. The issue is complex as more benefits might lead to less cash in hand, something workers don’t favour.Gigi Benefits which is working with four large internet platforms in India, reaching about 1 million gig workers, is trying to develop financial products for the gig economy. According to co-founder and CEO Sowmya Rao, “High liquidity is important, so a provident fund may not be the best idea for them. We are thinking about an alternative.”