‘Unblock our lives’ | Women gig workers protest in Delhi Premium

Women gig workers protest against algorithmic control and lack of flexibility, demanding better conditions and an end to ID blocking.

In ‘Nosedive’, an episode in Black Mirror, a popular dystopian TV show which explores the dark side of technology, a woman’s life starts falling apart when her rating begins to drop. She anxiously checks her smartphone as it buzzes many times a day, because every interaction she has will determine where she stands on a scale from 0 to 5 in a world where ratings are a marker of socio-economic status.

Ten years after this episode stirred a conversation on the dangers of an algorithmically-driven society, Sunita (name changed to protect privacy), a platform-based worker offering beauty services in Delhi, worries about how her rating has dropped to 4.69 out of 5. The app on her phone reads, ‘First profile strike’, and cautions her to maintain a rating over 4.7.

Also read: From ‘flexible’ to fearful: women gig workers hemmed in by new rules

The strike means that she has to undergo training again, for which she will have to buy products, pay for conveyance to the training site, and lose out on 10 days’ wages. If she gets two more strikes, her ID will get blocked on the Urban Company app, which would effectively render her jobless.

This is not a dystopian TV show; it is reality for many. Their rating, along with other deliverables such as number of weekend hours, determines whether they are in the bronze, silver, or gold category. Those with a higher ranking get better benefits, including higher health insurance for families and less frequent equipment checks.

“Whether it is rain, flood, or issues at home, we cannot cancel more than four trips a month, or we will get a strike. If our ratings fall, we get a strike. We have to fulfil every demand by the customer, even if they are unreasonable, or they threaten us with a low rating,” Sunita says, during a protest at Jantar Mantar by a women-led gig workers’ union.