Congress leader Rahul Gandhi joined a bike rally of gig workers in Hyderabad on Saturday and launched the Telangana Gig Workers’ Social Security and Welfare Scheme, which will allow delivery and ride-hailing workers to see details of the work they take up, the rides they complete and the earnings they make on their mobile phones.
Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and other Congress leaders took part in the rally. Visuals showed Gandhi riding pillion on a scooty driven by a female gig worker, while Reddy was seen riding pillion behind another worker.
Addressing the launch, Gandhi said data had become the defining resource of the 21st century and argued that gig workers in India had until now been unable to access their own data. “The 21st century is the century of data. Data is discussed across the country; data centres are being set up. Google, Facebook, WhatsApp, Uber – all of these function on the strength of data. But gig workers were not getting their own data in India until now,” he said.
He said the new law gives workers the right to that information, with the Telangana government ensuring that records of the work they undertake, the rides they complete and the payments they receive are accessible on their mobile phones.
The scheme is part of the Telangana Platform Based Gig Workers (Registration, Social Security and Welfare) Act, 2026, which was passed in March this year. Under the law, aggregators can terminate gig workers only for valid reasons, and those grounds must be communicated in writing with at least seven days’ notice. Platforms are also required to make timely payments and to provide a safe working environment for gig workers.
Gandhi said workers covered by the scheme are entitled to ₹5 lakh in accident insurance and ₹10 lakh in health insurance, and that the government will provide Wi-Fi-enabled rest zones for them.
Describing the conditions in which gig workers operate, he said they travel long distances and make deliveries in the heat without proper facilities to rest. “You move across the cities of Telangana under the sun; you deliver goods, but you do not have dedicated places to rest. So, the Govt of Telangana is going to set up Wi-Fi-enabled rest zones where you can park your vehicle, rest, sit, relax or sleep in Hyderabad and all cities of the state,” he said. The facilities are intended to let workers take breaks during working hours.
Gandhi said the launch fulfilled an assurance he had given to gig workers during an earlier interaction. “I had a meeting with the gig workers of Telangana. You shared your sorrow and pain with me. At that time, I said that the Congress party, our CM and all of us had promised you that we would take steps regarding your demands and we would make every effort to help you and protect you. Today, we are fulfilling that promise,” he said.
He also targeted the BJP, saying the ideology of the BJP and the RSS is aimed at benefiting big capitalists such as “Adani, Ambani” while treating workers like bonded labourers.
The rally and the launch put the state’s gig-work law at the centre of public attention in Telangana. The Act, passed in March, sets out a framework for registering platform-based gig workers and extending social security and welfare measures to them. The scheme launched on Saturday covers the part of that framework dealing with workers’ access to information about their engagements and payments, alongside the insurance cover and rest zones announced by the Chief Minister’s government.
Gandhi’s remarks tied the welfare measures to a broader argument about who controls the data generated by platform work, and he framed the entitlements as steps taken in response to demands raised by workers in their earlier meetings with him.
