Bai, bye to rights? How ‘Uberisation’ is set to change domestic work

In this quick commerce era, you can get just about anything in 15 minutes, whether it's the latest iPhone or that bag of chips you’ve been craving. A new addition to this ever-expanding list is domestic labour. Some weeks ago, Urban Company launched a service they called ‘Insta Maid’ which would ‘deliver’ a domestic worker to your house in only 15 minutes. They advertised this service as costing only Rs 49 per hour. Following backlash about the term ‘maid’ and the shockingly low pay, the company renamed it ‘Insta Help’ and clarified that this price was simply a promotional offer, and not what the workers would be paid. mediumhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7pd7m6FzJgYet, this model raises questions about what happens when domestic work gets ‘giggified’? Domestic worker unions across the country say that this impersonal Uber-type system is likely to exacerbate the problems that already plague workers, such as being paid below minimum wage to harassment on the job. As Priyamvada Sharma from the Delhi Gharelu Kaamgaar Union puts it, “There has always been exploitation, but now one part of that exploitation will be taken by intermediaries. They will take money both from maalik and mazdoor.”How companies say such schemes benefit workersFor their part, startups emphasise the pros of assured earnings and flexibility. Urban Company has clarified the specifics of the service. “In this new service offering, partners earn Rs 150-180 per hour, along with free health insurance and on-the-job life & accidental insurance. Partners working for 132 hours per month (22 days × 6 hours per day) are assured earnings of at least Rs 20,000 per month. This earning excludes Urban Company’s commission,” a spokesperson told TOI, adding that they “firmly believe in the dignity of labour”. ShowQuotesAnother player focusing on domestic workers is Broomees, a four-year-old startup that just launched a similar 15-minute service called BroomIT. Founder Saurav Kumar says the idea behind the startup came to him during Covid, when “a lot of domestic workers had to go back to their hometown and there was no platform or social security for them”. With this new quick service, currently active in South Delhi, workers can take up work as per their availability. “Suppose a cook who works in mornings and evenings but is free in the afternoon, they can find something for her. Whenever someone’s domestic worker is on leave or they have guests, they can book through us. We send them within 15 minutes. We have a dark store kind of operation office from where we supply these workers,” says Kumar. Workers are paid a base salary of Rs 10,000 a month now, and they have been making an additional Rs 8,000 on average from services rendered.The problem with these servicesShreya Ghosh, vice-president of Sangrami Gharelu-Kamgaar Union, says these models are problematic. “The problem with the entire gig economy is that you’re not able to identify who your employer is so you don’t know who is giving your labour rights or who you should be holding responsible. Most of these platforms don’t consider themselves employers but as some kind of ‘facilitators’, therefore, they are being able to evade labour rights that otherwise employers should be providing,” she says.Also, as in the case of app cab drivers, things are rosy in the beginning and then earnings drop. “Over time, workers report having to do much more work to make the same amount of money," she adds. mediumhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iziv6dNmFsPhD researcher Ambika Tandon at the University of Cambridge, who is working with the Rajdhani App Worker Union, points out that domestic work is fundamentally different to any other home service, like plumbing or salon services. “It is very different from any other home service because it’s a regular service. You have an extremely intimate relationship. It did start off as very feudal but has evolved into being somewhat contractual, especially in gated societies. The relationship is not the same as the one you’d have with someone coming into your house briefly, performing a service and leaving,” Tandon says. “There are expectations on both ends. So, for example, if you are a migrant domestic worker, you might rely on the family for finding access to school for your kids or for an advance in case of a cash crunch.” What these platforms are doing, she argues, is “taking that relationship out of its social fabric, cutting out the parts that are somewhat supportive to workers but retaining the parts that are extractive.”Plus, it also makes it difficult for domestic workers to collectivise. Geeta Menon, joint secretary of the Bengaluru-based Domestic Workers’ Rights Union, says domestic work being negotiated through platforms takes away the opportunity to form a union, having discussions with employers and negotiating salary. In the gig economy, Ghosh adds that platforms have blocked workers trying to unionise or collectivise in the past.Should house help be a quick service? Ratings are a tricky terrain too. “My rating can be impacted by things unrelated to work, like my caste, religion or even sexual harassment,” says Menon. Tandon adds that platform workers she’s interviewed report consequences to meeting clients directly. “They track the geolocation of partners and if they go to a customer’s house a few times after booking, they block your account.”Another fundamental issue is the nature of quick service. Tandon says, “This entire model is dependent on their being a supply reserve workforce. How will you provide customers with a readily available worker in 15 minutes without having enough people on standby? You’re creating a workforce that is sitting around, waiting for jobs.” ShowQuotesWhile the convenience of these services in cases of a worker being on leave or for an extra pair of hands during a party or function is undeniable, union representatives question if these limited use cases can power the employment of tens and thousands of workers.Shaik Salauddin, who heads a national union of gig workers as well as one in Telangana, says there are safety concerns as well. “Domestic workers, especially women, face risks of harassment or abuse by customers, with little recourse for complaints or support from the platform,” he says. However, Urban Company says they provide an SOS button on the app, with a dedicated women-only helpline and a newly launched trust and safety desk. Kumar says that Broomees has a SOS system, along with a fleet of riders who arrive at a customer’s house in case of an issue to understand from all parties what happened. Union leaders say domestic workers, whether on a platform or not, should be included under labour laws. “The aggregator will not give away its own private interest to the worker willingly, so it is the responsibility of the state to make sure the worker isn’t left at the mercy of the aggregator,” says Ghosh.