Union Budget 2026: Key expectations from India's gig workforce ahead of Budget day

Union Budget 2026: One of the key events of the year, India’s Union Budget, is just a few weeks away. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is set to present the Budget on February 1, 2026, marking her record ninth consecutive Budget presentation.

Union Budget 2026 comes around the time when the domestic market is going through severe uncertainty amid US trade tariffs and global geopolitical concerns. During the Union Budget 2026, all eyes will be on key announcements on allocations across different sectors like defence, railways, infrastructure and others for the new fiscal year, income tax policy, and relevant measures to help the Indian economy thrive through the ongoing global trade tariff war.

Many sectors and industries are anticipating reforms and key announcements from the Union Budget 2026. One such segment is the gig economy or gig workers, which is one of the fastest-growing segments in the Indian labour market. According to the 2022 Niti Aayog report, the gig economy is currently employing over 1 crore workers in 2024–25, with the number projected to grow to 2.35 crore by 2029–30, making it one of the highly employability sector.

Implementation of social security measures

Gig workers are anticipating the effective implication of the recently announced Code on Social Security, 2020, with key measures anticipated to be announced around the social security measures during the Budget speech.

What is Code on Social Security, 2020?

Code on Social Security, 2020, passed by Parliament, for the first time defines ‘gig workers’ and ‘platform workers’ and provides a legal framework for gig worker welfare. Key highlights of Code on Social Security, 2020, were formal recognition of gig workers, mandatory platform contributions of 1 to 2% of turnover by aggregators to a national social security fund.

Other provisions include aadhaar-linked ID on the e-Shram portal and benefits like life and health insurance coverage and maternity benefits for workers engaged for 90 days with one aggregator (or 120 days with multiple) in a single year.

Experts believe the Union Budget 2026 could potentially remove the proposed minimum working day threshold of 90/120 days to avail social security benefits. The current worker engagement time of 90/120 days could make most gig workers ineligible for social security benefits because of the high threshold level.

As per the Eternal CEO, Deepinder Goyal average delivery partner on its platforms worked just 38 days and 7 hours per working day in 2025, with only 2.3% working more than 250 days annually. Hence, removing the 90/120-day eligibility threshold could help increase the reach of social security benefits to workers.

All eyes will also be on the announcement around 10 minutes delivery system. The government may announce some measures to improve the safety and working conditions of gig workers, ease of delivery targets, and provide general advisories to quick-commerce platforms like Blinkit, Zepto, and Instamart.