In a significant legal development,the Karnataka High Court (“HC”) inMs. X v. ANI Technologies Private Limited (“Respondent“) and Others[1] inter alia held that the driver-subscribers of the Respondent were its ‘employees’ for the purposes of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (“POSH Act”), and hence, the Respondent was in violation of the POSH Act for not taking any action against a driver-subscriber despite several attempts of the aggrieved customer to seek redressal (“Petitioner”). The writ petition was filed by the Petitioner, pursuant to inaction on the part of the Respondent and the internal committee (“IC”) constituted by it under the POSH Act, to consider the Petitioner’s request to inquire into her complaint of sexual harassment on the grounds that the IC lacked jurisdiction to do so as the said accused driver was not an ‘employee’ of the Respondent, but an independent contractor.Continue Reading Karnataka High Court rules cab-aggregator drivers are employees under POSH Act: Broader implications for gig workers in India