PLFS to expand coverage of platform workers and unpaid work from January | Economy & Policy News

The National Statistics Office (NSO) has proposed a separate sampling stratum for households with workers engaged through digital platforms such as Ola, Uber, Zomato, Amazon and Urban Company in the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) from January 2027.

 

It has also proposed new questions to capture unpaid household work, caregiving, volunteering and unpaid trainee work.

 

The proposals are part of a concept note the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (Mospi) released on Friday.

 

They will take effect when the NSO draws fresh samples for the 2027-28 survey cycle, designated Panel 6, using an updated sampling frame. The current two-year cycle, Panel 5, will end in December 2026.

  

The NSO has been collecting data on digital platform workers, a subset of gig workers, on an experimental basis since January 2026.

 

However, the PLFS 2026 experience showed that the existing sampling arrangement did not capture enough of these workers, the concept note said.

 

To address this, the NSO has proposed a separate sampling stratum and added a binary question to the household listing schedule. It asks whether any household member has engaged in digital platform work at any time during the previous 365 days.

  

Measuring unpaid work

 

The ministry has also proposed new questions to measure work that falls outside conventional employment, including unpaid household and caregiving services, volunteer work, unpaid trainee work and the production of goods for household use.

 

A substantial proportion of women in India spend considerable time on unpaid household and caregiving activities, the ministry noted.

 

Such work contributes to household well-being and enables other members to participate in paid employment, but the PLFS has not measured these activities separately.

 

Including the new questions will help assess different forms of work beyond conventional employment and provide a broader picture of individuals’ contributions to households and communities, the concept note said.

 

The schedule has also been modified to include additional questions to measure labour underutilisation on an experimental basis.

 

Changes to sampling design

  

The criteria for stratification and sample allocation have been revised, with the overall sample size set to increase slightly from the previous allocation of 12,504 rural and 10,188 urban primary sampling units, called First Stage Units (FSUs).

 

The PLFS, conducted by the NSO since 2017, is the principal source of official statistics on labour force participation, employment and unemployment in India.

 

Its sampling design was last revamped in January 2025 to generate monthly estimates for rural and urban areas at the all-India level and extend quarterly estimates to rural areas.

 

The transition to the new sampling frame will involve a three-month overlap between the two panels. From January to March 2027, the sample will include FSUs from both Panels 5 and 6.

 

Monthly estimates published in the bulletins for these months, along with the first-quarter estimate, will be based on pooled data from the two panels.

 

From April 2027, monthly estimates will be based solely on Panel 6. Quarterly estimates will also use the new panel from the second quarter.