Speaking on Social Security Code, 2020, which claims that it is an Act to amend and consolidate the laws relating to social security with the goal to extend social security to all employees and workers either in the organised or unorganised or any other sectors and for matters connected with it, Dr. Gopal Krishna, an Advocate and labour justice researcher explained the implications of the repeal of
1. The Employee's Compensation Act, 1923;
2. The Employees' State Insurance Act, 1948;
3. The Employees' Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952;
4. The Employment Exchanges (Compulsory Notification of Vacancies)
Act, 1959;
5. The Maternity Benefit Act, 1961;
6. The Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972;
7. The Cine-Workers Welfare Fund Act, 1981;
8. The Building and Other Construction Workers' Welfare Cess Act, 1996;
9. The Unorganised Workers' Social Security Act, 2008 through the Social Security Code, 2020.
Dr. Krishna was speaking in an online discussion organised by Justice Democratic Forum, National Alliance for Labour Rights and Working People’s Coalition on December 18, 2025.
Dr. Krishna grappled with the provisions under Section 142 of the Code. The provision reads: 142 (1) An employee or unorganised worker or any other person, as the case may be,for—(a) registration as member or beneficiary; or (b) seeking benefit whether in kind, cash or medical sickness benefit or pension, gratuity or maternity benefit or any other benefit or for withdrawal of fund; or (c) availing services of career centre; or (d) receiving any payment or medical attendance as Insured Person himself or for his dependants, under this Code or rules, regulations or schemes made or framed thereunder, shall establish his identity or, as the case may be, the identity of his family members or dependants through Aadhaar number and for such purpose the expression "Aadhaar" shall have the meaning as defined in clause (a) of section 2 of the Aadhaar (The Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016:Provided that any foreigner employee shall obtain and submit Aadhaar number for establishing his identity, as soon as possible, on becoming resident within the meaning of clause (v) of section 2 of the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016. (2) For the purposes of sub-section (1), the Aadhaar number issued to an individual shall be in accordance with the provisions of section 3 of the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016.
Dr. Krishna pointed out that the Social Security Code paves the way for unlimited and endless surveillance of the workers through mandatory requirement for Aadhaar Number. The National Database of Unorganized Workers (via e-Shram portal) for all workers (organized, unorganized, gig, platform) are required to get a Aadhaar-based ID for benefits like PF, ESI, health, maternity, and pension, aiming for simplified, digital compliance.
The Code has 164 Sections. It had 7 Schedules including Third Schedule and Fourth Schedule which provide list of 33 occupational diseases related to specific employment and list of , 56 injuries deemed to result in permanent total disablement respectively.
Seventh Schedule read with Section 114(4)] provides a classification of aggregators into nine categories, namely,
1. Ride sharing services
2. Food and grocery delivery services
3. Logistic services
4. e-Market place (both market place and inventory model) for wholesale/retail sale of goods and/or services (B2B/B2C)
5. Professional services provider
6. Healthcare
7. Travel and hospitality
8. Content and media services
9. Any other goods and services provider platform
Section 153 of the Code states that notwithstanding anything contained in this Code, the following organisations constituted or established under the enactments repealed under section 164, namely:—
(i) the Central Board constituted under section 5A of the Employees' Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952;
(ii) Executive Committee constituted under section 5AA of the Employees' Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952;
(iii) the Corporation established under section 3 of the Employees' State Insurance Act, 1948;
(iv) the Medical Benefit Council constituted under section 10 of the Employees' State Insurance Act, 1948;
(v) the Standing Committee of the Corporation constituted under section 8 of the Employees' State Insurance Act, 1948; and vi) the Board constituted under Section 18 (1) of the Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Condition of Service) Act, 1996, shall, after the commencement of the Code, continue to exercise the powers and discharge the functions of the corresponding organisations under this Code, respectively, the Central Board of Trustees for Employees Provident Fund constituted under section 4, the Executive Committee constituted under Section 4 (3), the Employees State Insurance Corporation, constituted under section 5, the Medical Benefit Committee constituted under Section 5 (5), the Standing Committee constituted under Section 5 (3), Building Workers' Welfare Board constituted under Section 7 (1), as if such organisations constituted or, as the case may be, established under such repealed enactments, had been constituted under the respective provisions of this Code, till such corresponding organisations are constituted under this Code or till their respective time period under the repealed enactments expire, whichever is earlier.
Notably, the Employees' Provident Funds Scheme, 1952, the Employees' Deposit Linked Insurance Scheme, 1976, the Employees' Pension Scheme, 1995 and the Tribunal (Procedure) Rules, 1997 framed or made under the Employees' Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 and the rules, regulations and schemes made or framed under the Employees' State Insurance Act, 1948, shall remain in force, to the extent they are not inconsistent with the provisions of this Code for a period of one year from the date of commencement of the Code. Any exemption given under any enactments so repealed shall continue to be in force till its validity expires or it ceases to be in operation under the provisions of the Code or till any direction is made thereunder for such purpose.
The relevant provisions of Section 6 (2), of the General Clauses Act, 1897 applies to the repeal of such enactments.
The Code on Social Security is oblivious of the recommendations of the Second National Commission on Labour (NCL), 2002 and the National Commission on Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector (NCEUS), 2005.
The Second NLC was concerned with both unorganised workers and organised workers.
The NCEUS Report included the unorganised worker so that there is some ownership of the benefit. The Report classified BPL and non-BPL unorganised workers. It was the recommendations of the NCEUS report which led to the enactment of the Unorganised Workers’ Social Security Act, 2008 but it turned out to be quite weak.
Despite aiming to cover more workers, core benefits like Provident Fund (EPF) and Maternity Benefit remain tied to size of the establishment (e.g., 10+ or 20+ employees), excluding many in the unorganized sector.
The Code extends coverage to gig/platform workers but leaves essential benefits like medical care and standardized life cover to government discretion, potentially leaving them vulnerable.
The unclear definitions for "worker," "unorganized sector," and "gig worker," creates complexities in integrating with existing laws.
The Code's provisions create dual authorities and overlap, granting significant discretion to the government, which raises concerns about implementation and potential for misuse.
The Code falls short of International Labour Organization (ILO) standards for social security, particularly regarding universal basic health and comprehensive benefits for all workers.
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