The Congress government in Karnataka has decided to impose a cess on every transaction on aggregator platforms like ride-hailing, food delivery, logistics, e-marketplace etc services. Karnataka Labour Minister Santosh Lad announced the decision on Friday, 18 October 2024. He said that the money will be used for the welfare fund for Gig workers.
The minister said that the cess will be applicable only on the transport, and not on the product purchased. ANI quoted Santosh Lad as saying, “The Labour department of Karnataka has decided to impose cess on every transaction on aggregators platforms like Zomato, Dunzo, Swiggy, Zepto, Ola and others such. The Money which will be collected will be used for the Welfare fund for Gig workers. We are not charging for products or goods which consumers purchase, wit will be charged only on transport.”
Karnataka Labour Minister Santosh Lad says, "The Labour department of karnataka has decided to impose cess on every transaction on aggregators platforms like Zomato, Dunzo, Swiggy, Zepto, Ola and others such. The Money which will be collected will be used for the Welfare fund for…
— ANI (@ANI) October 18, 2024
As per reports, the cess will be around 1% to 2%, and it will be imposed on every transaction taking place on platforms such as Zomato, Swiggy, Flipkart, Amazon, Ola, Uber, Urban Company (UC), and others. The cess amount will be transferred to a Gig Welfare Board, from where the beneficiary gig workers will be paid.
This will increase the price of the effected services and products, as the cess will be collected by the platforms from the consumers. The aggregator will be responsible for transferring the collected cess to the welfare board. This will impact the frequent customers more, as the cess will be applicable on every transaction.
Earlier in June this year, the Karnataka govt unveiled the draft Platform-Based Gig Workers (Social Security and Welfare) Bill, 2024. The govt says that the fund will be used for the social security and welfare of gig workers engaged in delivery services of these platforms.
