Making Platform Work Fairer: Toward Decent Work in the Platform Economy

How are platform workers doing in different countries? Watch the video series below.

As digitalisation is changing the world of work in Pakistan, platform-based jobs such as ride-hailing, delivery services, call center work, and online freelancing are expanding rapidly. While these opportunities promise flexibility, many workers face insecurity, including the absence of written contracts, minimum wages, social protection, and the right to organise. 

According to the Fairwork Pakistan Ratings 2023, around 700,000 workers are engaged in platform work in the country, yet none of the six major platforms evaluated met the minimum standards of fair work, scoring 0 out of 10 across principles like fair pay, contracts, and worker representation. 

Pakistani trade union leader, Asad Mehmood, General Secretary, Pakistan Workers Federation (PWF) highlights these realities and explaining how trade unions are organising platform workers and advocates for legal recognition, fair wages, social security, and a just digital transition that ensures technology empowers workers rather than undermines their rights.

Tserendash Batlhagva has been working as a taxi driver on the UBCab platform in Ulaanbaatar for the last four years. He shares about his daily routine and what it means to work through a digital taxi platform. Most days begin very early in the morning, when demand for rides is highest as people travel to work or school. For Batlhagva, driving through the platform is a way to earn a living and support his family.

At the same time, the work also comes with certain challenges. Platform drivers usually do not have a formal employment contract, and social or health insurance is not provided by the company. If drivers want to be insured, they must arrange and pay for it themselves. Income can also change depending on the season or the number of passengers requesting rides.

His experience provides a closer look at how platform-based taxi work functions in Mongolia today and sheds light on the everyday realities many drivers face in the expanding platform economy.

“AI does make our lives more comfortable as human beings, but from the perspective of delivery riders who have to work under AI systems or platform algorithms, they face quite a lot of instability in their careers.”

Duangsomphong Wanglap (Toey), young labour organizer from Workers' Union Thailand explains how digitalisation and AI are shaping the precarious lives of platform workers in Thailand. 

As Platform corporations are taking the form of global value chain with offshore companies around the world, platform riders are facing insecurity, often sometimes their performance is evaluated by platform algorithms which can suspend their jobs, while they are also affected by declining pay rates, opaque algorithmic management, and the absence of social protection.

When a delivery rider in the Philippines gets offboarded from an app, they lose their income immediately: no investigation, no appeal, no recourse. One complaint ends with a livelihood lost.

“Security of tenure” is the right of a worker to keep their job unless there is just cause and due process. For platform workers in the Philippines, it barely exists.

Geoffrey Labudahon, National Coordinator of RIDERS-SENTRO, has spent years organizing delivery riders in the Philippines fighting for exactly that. The platform economy raises a question that goes beyond any single country: when the app holds all the power and workers hold none, what does a decent and dignified life actually look like for the delivery people keeping our cities running?

Shaik Salauddin, Co-founder and National General Secretary of the Indian Federation of App-Based Transport Workers (IFAT) & Founding President of the Telangana Gig and Platform Workers Union (TGPWU), explained that although Indian government has enacted the Code on Social Security in 2020, implementation began moving forward only in 2026 with the notification of draft rules. The code is significant as it introduces provisions for gig and platform workers for the first time in India. 

Alongside central efforts on social security schemes, five states - Rajasthan, Karnataka, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Telangana, are advancing their own legislation, with Telangana’s cabinet approving a bill pending formal enactment. This is possible because labour is a subject of the concurrent list of the Indian Constitution, which means, both the central and state can formulate laws.

While the central government focuses on social security schemes, states are taking legislative action on worker protections, including data transparency and grievance systems. Worker unions, including IFAT and TGPWU, with which Shaik is associated, continue advocating for stronger social protection and fair wages for platform workers.

In the view of Dyah Ayu platform work in Indonesia remains weakly regulated, as existing labor law—particularly Law No. 13 of 2003 on Manpower—only recognizes formal employment relationships, leaving most platform workers classified as “partners” rather than employees and excluding them from protections such as minimum wages, social security, and severance pay. 

Although a draft regulation on gig workers has been proposed, no comprehensive framework has been enacted, with reforms still under discussion. While measures like bantuan hari raya (religious holiday allowance) signal limited recognition, major challenges persist: most workers lack adequate social protection, including health insurance and pensions, face daily occupational risks (especially drivers), and have limited career mobility. 

In addition, unclear algorithmic systems reduce transparency in job allocation and earnings, and weak collective organizing capacity leaves workers with minimal bargaining power, reinforcing their structural vulnerability.

Myung Joon Park, a researcher at the Korea Labor Institute, talks about the rapid growth of digital platform work in South Korea, especially in delivery and ride-hailing services. While it brings convenience and innovation, many workers face increasing insecurity. Most are classified as independent contractors and excluded from basic labor protections, even though platform companies control their work through algorithms.

This creates key challenges such as unstable income, lack of transparency, and limited labor rights. Although policy efforts are ongoing, progress is slow. Trade unions must ensure platform workers are included in labor protections by strengthening collective voice, advocating fair regulation, and demanding accountability in algorithmic management. He emphasizes that the future of work should not be decided by platforms alone. Workers must have a voice.

Otgontungalag Tsevel, General Secretary of the Confederation of Mongolian Trade Unions, shares her perspective on the growing role of platform work in Mongolia. Like in many other countries, digital platform work has been expanding quickly in Mongolia. More and more people are now working through apps as taxi drivers, delivery workers, or service providers. While these platforms create new opportunities to earn income, they also raise important questions about workers’ rights and protections.

According to Otgontungalag Tsevel, many platform workers are currently registered as partners or independent contractors rather than employees. Because of this, they often do not have formal employment contracts, stable income, or access to basic labour protections. In many cases, workers must also deal with occupational risks on their own and are not fully covered by social insurance.

Another key concern is that platform workers often have limited opportunities to organize collectively, form trade unions, or negotiate their working conditions. From the perspective of the Mongolian trade union movement, platform work should be recognized within the national legal framework as a form of employment. Clear regulations could help ensure better social protection, fair working conditions, and stronger labour rights for platform workers in Mongolia.