The Indian Federation of App-Based Transport Workers (IFAT) has written to the ministest of labour and employment, urging the government to mandate heatwave protection for gig workers under the Code on Social Security, 2020.

The body’s demands include paid cooling breaks, protection from delayed delivery penalties, access to drinking water, heat distress support, heat alerts along with adjustable work timings.

As heatwaves become frequent this summer, the body has requested the government to mandate these for workers across delivery, ride-hailing, and home services segments. Companies like Swiggy, Eternal, Zepto, FirstClub, Urban Company, Snabbit, Pronto, and others have a large number of riders and gig workers with them.

“Heat protection is a basic human right of millions of workers powering the platform economy. We want this issue to be seeed at through a human lens,” declared Shaik Salauddin, national general secretary, IFAT, adding that countries like South Korea, Singapore, France, and Japan have such protections and India should follow.

Meanwhile, the Telangana Gig and Platform Workers Union (TGPWU) has launched a ‘glass of water campaign’ online, urging customers to provide water to delivery persons.

Typically, during summers, food delivery and quick commerce services face a rider crunch as gig workers return to their villages. ET reported in March that food and grocery delivery platforms were bracing for a surge in demand during the summer and the busy IPL season. However, forecasting rider availability has been unusually difficult this year due to elections, the heat, and LPG crisis caapplyd by the war in the middle east.