About 40 women who work with Urban Company, assembled outside a training center in Sector 60, calling for an eight-hour workday, weekly time off and access to essential facilities like drinking water and toilets. (Express Photo)
In the wake of a series of protests by workers in Noida over wages in the last few days, a smaller group of women employed in the gig economy gathered on Wednesday morning with a different demand: not more pay, but more predictable hours and basic dignity at work.
About forty women who work with Urban Company, a platform that provides at-home services, assembled outside a training center in Sector 60, calling for an eight-hour workday, weekly time off and access to essential facilities like drinking water and toilets.
Their protest comes as other groups of workers across the city have taken to the streets since Friday, pressing for higher wages. But the women here said their concerns were rooted less in how much they earned than in how they were made to work.
“We are not asking them to increase our salaries,” said Neha Devi, 25, who has been with the company for five months and earns about 25,000 rupees a month. “We are asking for fixed working hours and basic facilities.”
Police officers escorted the women into buses and removed them from the site. (Express Photo)
Devi said that although government norms prescribe an eight-hour workday, she and her colleagues are often required to work up to 11 hours. Absences on weekends, she said, can lead to disproportionately high deductions. “If my daily wage is Rs 833, why is Rs 1,000 rupees cut?” she asked.
The women described a system in which their earnings could fluctuate sharply based on customer ratings and strict punctuality metrics. Even arriving a minute late, they said, could result in penalties. The protesting women said supervisors were often unreachable and, at times, threatened to deactivate their accounts.
The nature of their work, traveling from one customer’s home to another, also leaves them without access to basic amenities. “We are told to use customers’ washrooms,” Devi said. “But many times, we are turned away.”
For Sonakshi Thapa, 27, who has worked on the platform for eight months, the problem extends beyond pay cuts. She said workers are given 15 minutes to travel between appointments, a target she described as unrealistic. “It takes at least 20 minutes because we have to walk,” she said.
Their protest comes as other groups of workers across the city have taken to the streets since Friday, pressing for higher wages. (Express Photo)
Thapa also pointed to challenges specific to women workers. “We need to change sanitary pads , every woman faces this,” she said. “We cannot do that in customers’ homes. We need proper facilities.”
She said that after deductions linked to ratings and attendance, her monthly earnings had dropped to about Rs 18,000 in recent months.
Another worker, Pinky Kumari, 30, recounted repeatedly messaging her supervisor to reverse a cancellation she said she had not made – messages she said went unanswered. “We were told during training that if we don’t cancel, our money won’t be cut,” she said. “But no one listens.”
She added that while complaints from workers about customers rarely lead to action, even minor complaints from customers can result in immediate suspension of a worker’s account.
By late morning, the protest was cut short. Police officers escorted the women into buses and removed them from the site. A senior officer at the scene said the gathering had been prompted by a misleading message circulating among workers and described it as part of a broader pattern of mobilization in recent days. Queries sent to Urban Company remained unanswered.
Curated by James Chen
