Digital platforms are becoming a permanent fixture in urban consumption and employment in India. In our work, we draw attention to the rise of digital platforms in providing paid domestic and care work services. Through exhaustive platform-mapping and feminist ethnographic work, the research uncovers the implications of digital platforms’ operations on domestic and care workers’ civil liberties, social protection, and gainful work outcomes.

We find several platform types in addition to the ‘Uber’ model of digital platforms, which impact work conditions differently. Some platforms provide only matching services between workers and employers, while others control each aspect of the job from task allocation to wages. Most dominant platforms continue to exploit workers and place them in positions of precarity without any security of income or safety nets. We do find some examples of platforms seeking to promote decent work conditions of workers, such as by providing employment contracts. We argue that it is important to promote such alternative models of ownership and structuring of work to ensure decent work in this sector.

The knowledge materials hosted here seek to raise awareness of these emerging developments. They also serve to support a range of stakeholders in adapting policy and design choices that can enable equitable and secure access to employment through digital intermediaries. We have sought to reach out to policy makers, feminist internet and labour researchers, digital platform companies and most importantly, domestic and care workers and their collectives. Embodying the feminist principles guiding this project, we have attempted to prioritise marginalised communities’ access to knowledge in the design and dissemination of the resources hosted here.