Uber Asks Karnataka High Court to Strike Down State Gig-Workers Law

Overview

• Uber filed a petition in the Karnataka High Court that was placed with existing challenges and notified the Union government, Karnataka government and the state Gig Workers Welfare Board on July 28.
• Justice Suraj Govindaraj extended interim protection to Uber like earlier petitioners, gave respondents until August 24 to reply and ordered Uber to deposit the welfare contribution within three weeks.
• Uber asks the court to quash the Platform-Based Gig Workers (Social Security and Welfare) Act, the Rules, the notification constituting the welfare board and notices served on it, saying the state law duplicates and conflicts with the Centre’s Code on Social Security, 2020.
• Karnataka’s law, notified in September 2025 and fixed at a 1% per-transaction welfare fee in February 2026, sets category caps (for example Rs 0.50 for many two-wheeler transactions) and funds insurance, medical, maternity and old-age benefits plus grievance and deactivation safeguards.
• The case will shape national regulation because a ruling that allows parallel state regimes could force platforms to manage different fees and compliance rules across states, a change the industry says would raise costs and administrative burden while unions say the law adds needed worker protections.