By Pallavi Madhok, VP-Advisory Services, South Asia, Women’s World Banking and Bhavya Sharma, Senior Director, Communications, Policy & ESG, Urban Company
Gig work is rapidly evolving into an additional and often alternative source of livelihood in India. Per the national planning body, the NITI Aayog, the number of gig and platform workers in the country is expected to rise to 23.5 million by 2030, up from 7.7 million at the start of this decade. According to some estimates, women presently make up 2.3 to 3.4 million of those workers. This reflects the broader trend of women’s increasing participation in India’s workforce: up from 23.3 per cent in 2017-18 to 40 per cent in 2025. For context, a gig worker is a person engaged in income-generating work outside of a traditional employer-employee relationship. When gig workers use a platform dedicated to connecting them to customers, they’re known as platform workers.
However, gender-related structural barriers and inequalities persist in the gig economy. Women workers are predominantly represented in typically gendered sectors like beauty services, caregiving, and domestic work. These sectors tend to be perceived as less important compared to male-dominated sectors like delivery and ride-hailing. Consider that women’s representation in beauty and grooming services can reach 46%, compared to a meagre 1-6% in ride-hailing and delivery platforms, where safety concerns and lack of vehicle ownership are major barriers. Further, platform algorithms themselves may tend to increase this inequality: largely, women workers juggle household and care responsibilities, resulting in fewer gigs and, thereby, lower earnings, which impact how they fare on availability and rating metrics on platforms.
To address some of these structural challenges, Women’s World Banking (WWB) partnered with Urban Company (UC) to pilot a mobility finance initiative supporting down payment, financial coaching and awareness, and on-the-ground fairs dedicated to selling scooters to simplify purchase. To put it in perspective, vehicle ownership in India remains starkly gendered: only 26% of households report female ownership compared to 44% of men. Beyond patriarchal norms, existing lending models overlook the customer segment of women gig workers, who typically lack traditional collateral or formal credit histories. This lack of affordable mobility finance makes women gig workers rely on a precarious mix of public transport and hired rides, which raises operational costs and, at worst, leads to high cancellation rates and time poverty.
WWB and UC demonstrated through the pilot that when financial tools are tailored to the realities of a woman’s life, the economic return is immediate, translating into higher and more stable income. By combining down payment support with financial coaching and bike fairs, they created a pathway for over 700 women to move from commuters to asset owners.
The results were compelling. Women who acquired a two-wheeler:
- Increased monthly jobs from 41 to 45
- Raised their net monthly earnings by ₹5,966 (US$67)
- Reduced income volatility and accepted more evening jobs
- Reported better financial awareness and budgeting confidence
- Spa service workers saw the biggest gains, showing how mobility can expand women’s earning power
Below are the recommendations to scale this solution:
- Financial institutions can design affordable asset finance tailored to women, accounting for their specific needs, including flexible repayment schedules and lower down payment barriers, and recognizing gig earnings as a stable basis
- Gig platforms can integrate mobility, safety features, and trust-building tools
- Policymakers can invest in safer transport ecosystems and gender-responsive digital design
- Technology providers and fintechs can create intuitive, low-literacy interfaces for savings and finance products
Conclusion
When mobility support is paired with financial capability building, the impact multiplies. Women gain higher earnings, greater resilience, and stronger pathways to asset ownership. As more women join the gig industry, women-centred products and outreach that match their work realities will transform how they advance their economic independence, and thereby household incomes and resilience.
Watch women gig workers’ views on mobility: [Link to film]
