Speaking on India’s evolving social security framework for gig workers, Ajay Trehan highlighted the need for a more structured and scalable ecosystem to support the country’s growing gig workforce. He noted that gig workers have long powered sectors such as last-mile delivery, mobility, logistics, home services, and digital commerce, even as the social security framework supporting them has remained fragmented.

“Registration, worker IDs, contribution records, and benefit portability should not become separate silos across states. Ideally, the central framework should act as the common digital and legal spine, while states can build additional welfare layers on top,” said Ajay Trehan, Founder & CEO, AuthBridge.

Commenting on India’s newly introduced social security framework for gig workers, Ajay Trehan highlighted several operational and structural challenges that could impact effective implementation. He highlighted how the current eligibility model places an unfair burden on workers, as only completed tasks are counted toward eligibility, despite work allocation being heavily influenced by platform algorithms, demand fluctuations, and platform-side controls.

Trehan also emphasised that accountability for worker welfare should remain with the platforms that exercise functional control over onboarding, work allocation, payment visibility, and worker engagement, regardless of whether third parties are involved. Additionally, he stressed the importance of establishing stronger safeguards around sudden account suspension and deactivation, as workers risk losing both income continuity and social security eligibility if their accounts are blocked/removed midway through the year.

In conclusion, he stated that while the new framework marks an important step toward recognising gig workers within India’s social security ecosystem, our country needs a more unified, transparent, and worker-centric approach to ensure meaningful and long-term protection for the gig workforce.

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In a recent podcast feature, Amit Balwani, Senior Vice President of Technology, AuthBridge, shares his perspective on why Human-in-the-Loop (HITL) AI is emerging as a fundamental design principle rather than just a safety mechanism.

In an exclusive feature with FEFutech, Ajay Trehan, Founder and CEO of AuthBridge, highlights how digital fraud in India has surged by 30%, driven largely by advancements in Generative AI (GenAI) and evolving attack methods.

New Delhi, April 15, 2026: AuthBridge, India’s leading provider of digital trust and identity verification solutions, today announced a strategic partnership with Redacto, a privacy-first technology company specialising in data redaction and consent governance. The partnership aims to help Indian enterprises operationalise consent management and strengthen compliance with the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act.

“Strengthening digital and structured address verification processes must remain a strategic priority for BFSI institutions,” said Ajay Trehan, Founder & CEO, AuthBridge.

Hiring risks in India’s BFSI sector are becoming more visible, driven by gaps in core verification checks, according to AuthBridge’s Workforce Fraud Files – H1 FY26. The report found that more than 1 in every 10 job applications in BFSI showed discrepancies, highlighting growing concerns in a sector built on trust and accuracy.

The analysis draws from lakhs of candidate cases across both white-collar and gig workers, reviewed through AuthBridge’s verification platform.

Education checks showed gaps, with 2.93% of cases reporting discrepancies. These were largely linked to fake certificates or degrees from unrecognised or blacklisted institutions.

Address verification continues to remain a challenge as well. Inaccurate or outdated address details make it difficult to establish candidate traceability, which is critical for roles involving financial access and regulatory compliance.

This reinforces the need for stronger, technology-led background verification processes, including early-stage checks and continuous monitoring, to reduce risk and ensure hiring accuracy.

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“In gig hiring, speed cannot come at the cost of trust. When even basic checks like address and identity show gaps, it highlights the need for stronger, technology-led verification systems that can operate at scale. As India’s gig economy continues to expand across logistics, delivery, and on-demand services, the report underscores a clear shift: background verification is no longer just an onboarding formality, but a critical control point for ensuring safety, reliability, and long-term platform credibility,” said Ajay Trehan, Founder & CEO, AuthBridge.

Hiring risks in India’s gig economy are increasingly being driven by gaps in basic verification checks, according to AuthBridge’s Workforce Fraud Files 2026. Based on background verification data from April to September 2025, the report highlights that 6% of gig worker profiles showed at least one discrepancy, signalling growing concerns in a workforce built on speed and scale.

Address verification emerged as a key area of concern. Nearly 9.7% of gig worker cases reported discrepancies, with candidates often providing untraceable locations or becoming unresponsive during the verification process. In several instances, previously listed employer addresses were found to be non-existent, raising questions around both traceability and authenticity.

Identity checks added another layer of risk. Around 2.5% of cases failed identity (NID) verification, largely due to fraudulent or misused identification documents that could not be matched with official databases.

Legal screening further reinforced the need for tighter checks. In total, 2.2% of gig worker profiles flagged issues in court record checks, including cases related to theft and assault, which are particularly critical in customer-facing roles where trust is non-negotiable.

Taken together, these findings point to a structural challenge rather than isolated discrepancies. In a sector where hiring cycles are compressed and onboarding is often rapid, verification frameworks are struggling to keep pace with scale.

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“The pharmaceutical sector operates in a highly regulated environment where trust, compliance, and accountability are essential. While employment discrepancies have reduced compared to earlier cycles, the persistence of misrepresentation and the rise in address verification challenges highlight the need for stronger, technology-driven verification frameworks. Robust screening processes are essential for organisations to maintain workforce integrity and safeguard operational credibility,” said Ajay Trehan, Founder & CEO, AuthBridge.

India’s pharmaceutical sector continues to encounter significant hiring-related risks, particularly involving misrepresentation of employment history, address validation, and education credentials. Insights from the Workforce Fraud Files – H1 FY26 by AuthBridge highlights these discrepancies as recurring issues within the pharma hiring practices, with field sales and operational roles emerging as the most vulnerable areas.

The most significant concern remains employment verification. The report finds that 12.1% of pharma employment checks recorded discrepancies in H1 FY26. While this marks a decline from 17% in the previous cycle, misrepresentation related to salary details, work experience, and tenure information continues to be a common risk factor in the sector. With pharmaceutical companies relying heavily on a distributed workforce across sales, distribution, and regulatory functions, inaccurate employment disclosures can directly affect operational integrity.

As India’s pharmaceutical industry continues to expand both domestically and globally, the report underscores the importance of strengthening pre-employment screening processes, improving address verification systems for field-based roles, and maintaining consistent employment validation protocols to support long-term governance and compliance.

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“Retail hiring happens at speed and scale, particularly at the frontline. However, the data clearly shows that structured verification cannot be compromised. With one in six employment checks failing and education discrepancies rising, retailers must strengthen screening controls to protect operational stability and customer trust,” said Ajay Trehan, Founder & CEO, AuthBridge.

AuthBridge’s latest Workforce Fraud Files – H1 FY26 highlights growing hiring risks within India’s rapidly expanding retail sector. The report found that nearly 1 in 6 candidates failed employment verification checks, with discrepancies also observed in education (9.16%) and address verification (10.64%), reflecting persistent gaps in candidate data accuracy. 

The findings are based on background verification data collected during H1 FY26, covering key checks such as employment history, education, and address validation, critical areas for a sector driven by the frontline operations, cash handling, and inventory management. 

Employment verification emerged as the most impacted area, with candidates often misreporting tenure, salary, or previous roles. Address discrepancies were also significant, largely due to workforce mobility and temporary living arrangements, while rising education mismatches indicate increasing pressure on candidates to enhance their profiles. 

These trends underscore the need for retailers to balance speed with diligence in hiring, especially as expansion accelerates across Tier-2 and Tier-3 markets. Strengthening verification frameworks will be essential to ensuring operational efficiency, reducing risk, and maintaining customer trust. 

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In an exclusive feature with ETHospitalityWorld, Ajay Trehan, Founder and CEO of AuthBridge, highlights how vendor audits, franchise standards, workforce verification, and hygiene compliance form the invisible trust infrastructure that supports every guest interaction. While customers rarely notice these mechanisms, their absence is immediately visible when something goes wrong.

The hospitality industry is based on trust. Every supplier decision, hiring choice, and operational process directly influences brand reputation. A single lapse, whether from an unlicensed vendor, weak hygiene practices, or inadequate workforce screening, can trigger incidents that spread rapidly across digital platforms, impacting brand perception far beyond a single outlet. 

As hospitality brands expand through a network of franchisees and vendors, maintaining consistent standards across locations becomes both a strategic necessity and an operational challenge. Compliance frameworks, spanning vendor due diligence, workforce background checks, operational SOPs, and regulatory adherence, enable brands to scale without diluting service quality or guest safety.

However, compliance is often perceived as a cost burden, particularly for smaller operators navigating fragmented regulations and rising operational pressures. Forward-looking organisations are reframing this reality by embedding compliance into business design, leveraging technology to automate monitoring, and prioritising partnerships that value process integrity alongside price.

In an era where consumer trust is shaped instantly and publicly, compliance is no longer an administrative obligation but a strategic enabler of resilience and growth. For India’s hospitality sector, sustainable expansion will be defined not just by how fast brands grow, but by how consistently they uphold the standards that protect their reputation and customer trust.