Zepto—Zepto petitioned Karnataka High Court challenging constitutional validity of state's gig workers welfare law
Zepto, alongside Swiggy and Zomato, moved the Karnataka High Court in June 2026 to challenge the constitutional validity of the state's gig workers welfare law, which would require aggregator platforms to contribute to a worker welfare fund and extend social-security protections. Zepto's own IPO filing separately disclosed a pending labour-related criminal complaint over wage violations dating to September 2024. The legal challenge came amid broader industry resistance to gig-worker protections.
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gig Worker Rights | -against | primary | -1.00 |
| Overall incident score = | -0.734 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (medium ×1) × confidence (0.73)
Evidence (3 signals)
Unions press Karnataka to roll out gig-worker welfare benefits as fees collected since February remain undistributed amid Zepto's ongoing court challenge
Zepto and fellow petitioners deposited Karnataka's gig-worker welfare fee with the High Court registry by a July 23, 2026 deadline while their constitutional challenge to the state's welfare law proceeded. On October 1, 2026, unions IFAT and KAWU wrote to the Gig Workers Welfare Board seeking urgent implementation of benefit schemes - health/accident insurance, maternity support, pensions - after roughly eight months of collected fees sat undistributed with no court stay in place.
Karnataka HC refused to stay gig workers welfare law, ordered Zepto to deposit welfare fee in escrow pending challenge
The Karnataka High Court declined to stay the Karnataka Platform-Based Gig Workers (Social Security and Welfare) Act, 2025 while hearing the platforms' constitutional challenge, but granted interim protection from coercive state action on condition that Zepto and other platforms deposit the statutory welfare fee with the court registry. Platforms met the July 23, 2026 deadline to deposit the fee.
The Hindu: Zepto among aggregators challenging Karnataka gig workers welfare law in High Court
The Hindu reported that Zepto, Swiggy and Zomato moved the Karnataka High Court challenging the constitutional validity of the state's gig workers welfare law, which would require aggregator platforms to fund worker welfare and social-security protections. Zepto's own IPO filing separately disclosed a pending labour-related criminal complaint over wage violations.