Patna: The Bihar government has passed a new bill to support delivery boys and other gig workers working for online platforms. Under this law, if a delivery boy dies in an accident while working, his family will get Rs 4 lakh. If he dies a natural death, his family will get Rs 2 lakh as help.
This bill was passed in the Bihar Assembly during the monsoon session on Wednesday. Labor Resources Minister Santosh Kumar Singh said that a welfare board will be set up for gig workers. The board will have the minister as chairman and will include officials from related departments and representatives of online platforms.
All platforms and companies will have to register within 60 days. Each delivery boy or gig worker will get a unique ID after registration so that they can get the benefits of different schemes. If a gig worker is admitted to hospital for more than a week, he will get Rs 16,000. If admitted for less than a week, he will get Rs 5,400. Workers with 40-60% disability will get Rs 74,000 to Rs 2.5 lakh. Women workers will get maternity benefits under this scheme.
Along with this, the Assembly also passed other bills and amendments. The maximum overtime for factory workers has been increased from 75 hours to 144 hours, but written permission from workers will be required. The government says these steps will improve the lives of both gig workers and regular employees in Bihar.
