A decade ago, when platforms like Urban Company entered the scene, they were seen the beacon of hope for thousands of women like Selvi and Nisha, two beauticians based in in Bangalore—finally, an avenue that offered them the financial independence and support their families without the cost flexibility. Not long after, thanks to its at-home beauty and salon services, Urban Company became  India’s biggest employer of women gig workers. Even now, over one third of the platform’s workers are female making it the largest employer of women gig workers in India.

But in the last few years, the same workers have been raising their voices against the unfair nature of their job—from the one-sided ratings system of the app that makes female gig workers entirely dependent on ratings by customers and the arbitrary blocking of their accounts to the lack of safety and more.

Their requests and demands seem to be falling in to deaf years. The Ken reached out to Urban Company with questions regarding these issues but so far we haven’t received any response.

In today’s episode, we will try to understand why Selvi, Nisha and thousands like them are so angry with the very company that was once a source of freedom for them.

Tune in.

Episode cover art by Kavipriya OG

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Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.Listen to the latest episode of Two by Two here