Cost Of Labour Reforms, RMG Giants Under ED Scanner & More
After years of delays, the Centre, last week, finally undertook sweeping labour reforms. 29 fragmented laws were replaced by four codes, designed to expand social safety nets for gig workers and standardise employer obligations. So, what’s this new unified framework?
Towards Formalisation: The new norms promise formal recognition and portable benefits, linked to Aadhaar, to millions of Indian gig workers. Aggregators are also now required to contribute 1-2% of their annual turnover, capped at 5% of payouts, into a central welfare fund.
Combined with expanded PF and ESIC coverage and mandatory overtime at double rates, gig platforms collectively face over INR 1,500 Cr in additional annual costs.
The Safety Net Price Tag: The math is unforgiving. Morgan Stanley estimates the social security mandate to add INR 1.5-2.5 per order for food delivery and quick commerce platforms.
Based on FY25 volumes, Zomato faces INR 128-213 Cr in additional annual costs, while Swiggy confronts INR 132-220 Cr. Smaller but rapidly scaling players like Rapido (INR 20 Cr impact), Zepto (INR 222 Cr), and Porter (INR 86 Cr) could also see sharper pressure on unit economics.
But Who Will Pay? With platform fees already climbing sharply and profitability still fragile for many players, industry insiders see these new laws increasing balance sheet liabilities for online aggregators and pushing away price-sensitive users, who may have to absorb the cost.
The Regulatory Quagmire: Implementation also remains murky. States must still notify detailed rules, and actual compliance depends on state-level enforcement mechanisms. While big platforms can bank on their big teams and deep pockets to easily adapt to the new reality, the burden is real for small startups and contractor-heavy businesses.
As the government seeks to formalise the gig economy, will the new labour reforms dampen demand, or will aggregators find new ways to absorb the impact? Let’s find out…
From The Editor’s Desk- The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has frozen assets exceeding INR 523 Cr linked to WinZO, Pocket52 and Gameskraft amid allegations of cheating, money laundering, and account manipulation.
- This follows ED raids at WinZO and Gameskraft. While WinZO has been accused of diverting funds overseas and misusing KYC data, Gameskraft and Pocket52’s parent entity are under scanner over allegations of rigged games and withdrawal restrictions.
- Investor Prosus, in its half-yearly report, said that the fintech company’s adjusted EBITDA loss shrank 95% to just $1 Mn in H1 FY26, with the India unit effectively breaking even at a 0% aEBITDA margin at the core operational level.
- The two SaaS giants have received the market regulator’s observation letters, granting them approval to proceed ahead with their public offerings.
- The ride-hailing giant has partnered with magicpin to onboard over 80,000 restaurants onto the former’s newly launched food delivery platform, Ownly. Rapido will continue to rope in restaurants directly as well.
- Ownly, launched in August this year, operates on a low-cost model with zero platform fees. It charges restaurants a flat commission of INR 25 plus GST per order, undercutting incumbents Swiggy and Zomato’s 25-35% commission rates.
- The wealth tech platform has raised nearly $14.6 Mn in its Series B round led by Bertelsmann India Investments to enhance its AI tech stack, expand into tier II and III cities and broaden offline distributor network.
As remote work and digital-first business models become the norm, communication within companies has become increasingly fragmented. Despite swathes of messaging tools, lack of coordination has resulted in teams operating in silos and companies overspending on outreach. Trying to solve this problem is Fyno.
Fyno’s Insight: Founded in 2022, the startup has developed as an intelligent orchestration layer that unifies all communication channels, tools, and teams on a single platform. Its tech stack adds context, logic, and AI-driven decision-making to every interaction. This allows enterprises to intelligently choose what message to send, when, on which channel, and to whom.
Intelligent Orchestration at Scale: Built on an architecture capable of processing 80,000 messages per second with under 50 ms latency, Fyno is optimised for BFSI and insurance clients. Acting as an independent control layer, without vendor bias, it provides real-time insights into message delivery and vendor performance, enabling enterprises to reduce costs and increase customer engagement.
Growing Steadily: After spending close to two years building out its core platform, Fyno only began generating revenue in the past year. In FY25, the startup reported a revenue of a little over $0.5 Mn, with an eye on a top line of $2 Mn in FY26 and $5 Mn by FY27.
So, can Fyno’s orchestration layer make fragmented enterprise communication efficient?
India is set to become the world’s fastest-growing major economy in 2026, driven by strong domestic consumption, tax cuts, and rising disposable incomes. Read on to dive deeper…
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