Eight hours a day, 48 hours a week. That’s the new limit on how much time India’s central government says people should spend at work. If an employee agrees to do more than that, then their employer must pay overtime—double their wage.

India, as it turns out, has one of the world’s highest overtime wage rates, but that doesn’t mean everyone can benefit from it.

The government’s own 2024–25 Economic Survey indicates that regulations like these discourage job creation and limit wages, so some workers are enticed to enter informal employment.

Meanwhile, the informal workforce—think of the likes of gig workers—are not eligible for overtime pay under the new regulation, even though many people who take on this type of arrangement end up working 10–14 hours per day.
That means the new rules aren’t really accomplishing their intended objectives. India’s gig workers could benefit from more structure, while employees could do with a higher degree of flexibility.

The Ken deputy editor Arundhati Ramanthan reveals the details in this edition of Make India Competitive Again, as read by Rahel Philipose.

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