Overview
- The Internet and Mobile Association of India and major platforms filed a writ petition on June 27 asking the Karnataka High Court to declare the Karnataka Platform-Based Gig Workers Act, 2025 and related rules unconstitutional.
- The challengers seek to quash the Act, the welfare-board notification, the February order fixing welfare-fee rates, and recent administrative notices that order Internal Dispute Resolution Committees and demand welfare-fee payments with proof by July 5.
- Petitioners argue the state law conflicts with the national Code on Social Security, 2020 and creates a parallel regime that could force aggregators to make duplicate welfare contributions and meet overlapping reporting and technical obligations.
- Justice Suraj Govindaraj recused from hearing the case after noting a potential conflict, so the petition is not yet listed and awaits assignment to another bench; unions have condemned the move and vowed to oppose any rollback of state protections.
- The dispute raises a broader federal question about whether states can add welfare rules for gig workers under the central labour code and could shape how other states balance worker protections, platform costs, and enforcement steps such as the payment-verification system.