Bengaluru: Karnataka govt Tuesday issued an ordinance to implement the long-promised Karnataka Platform-based Gig Workers (social security and welfare) scheme, two years after announcing it in election manifesto.Following opposition from within the administration and stakeholders, the state finally moved ahead with the ordinance after direct intervention by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. The ordinance enables formation of a welfare board dedicated to gig workers.One of the key challenges faced by the government was devising a mechanism to fund the welfare board. According to the ordinance, the corpus will be built through a levy ranging from a minimum of 1% to a maximum of 5% on each transaction involving platform-based gig workers.The transaction payout is calculated based on the distance travelled by the gig worker for delivery of goods or services. The ordinance states that the welfare levy — officially termed the ‘Gig Worker Welfare Fee’ — may vary across categories of aggregators or platforms. It also leaves room for this levy to be applied with or without a cap. The exact rates for each platform will be notified within six months.Additionally, the ordinance mandates all platforms to register with the newly formed Gig Workers Welfare Board within 45 days. Officials from the already-existing Karnataka State Unorganised Workers’ Welfare Board will also serve on the new board.+++++Platforms considered employing gig workers under the ordinance include:* Ride-sharing services* Food and grocery delivery services* Logistics services* E-marketplaces (both marketplace and inventory models) for wholesale/retail sale of goods and/or services (B2B/B2C)* Professional activity providers* Healthcare platforms* Travel and hospitality services* Content and media service providers