Delhi’s stiff fine for odd-even breaches, gig workers to come under social net, and more news

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You may have to pay a steep price for violating Delhi’s odd-even road rationing scheme. Under the amended Motor Vehicles Act, fines could go up to ?20,000 — 10 times higher than what similar breaches attracted three years ago, news reports suggest. Delhi hasn’t decided on the quantum of fines yet. The odd-even plan, which will be enforced between November 4 and 15, is expected to combat air pollution but experts are divided on the efficacy of the initiative.

Are the hefty fines justified? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Gig economy workers are set to come under the country’s labour laws, Business Standard reports, citing new rules proposed by the government. The draft Code on Social Security says gig workers should be entitled to life and disability insurance, health and maternity benefits, old-age protection, and “other benefits” as decided by the Centre. Freelancers and part-time professionals could also be brought within the ambit. A majority of millennials find freelance work more appealing than regular jobs, surveys show. But experts caution against over-regulation of gig-economy companies, which are estimated to create 56% of all new jobs.

Maruti Suzuki – which sells every second car in India – is ceding ground to its nearest competitor Hyundai in a depressed automobile market. Over April-August 2019, the country’s biggest carmaker saw its market share shrink by over 2 percentage points to 49.8%, mainly due to the absence of petrol variants in the UV/ SUV segment and long waiting periods for the Ertiga. During the same period, Hyundai’s market share rose by 2.8 percentage points to 18.4%, led by strong sales of the Venue SUV and an impressive start to the new i10 models. 

Wells Fargo is likely to cut a few hundred jobs in India as part of a global cost-optimisation exercise, Economic Times reports, quoting sources. The bank, which employs about 20,000 people across its Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Chennai centres, is reducing redundant roles from support functions and technology testing. A Wells Fargo spokesperson told the daily that the company was looking to slash expenses “from duplicative and inefficient processes”. Wells Fargo follows HSBC and Deutsche Bank, which trimmed their India headcount as part of a global realignment earlier this year.

Alexa now supports Hindi and Hinglish. About 500 ‘skills’ – a term for tasks such as playing music and telling stories – are available in the local language, allowing the voice assistant to respond to commands such as "Bollywood ke latest gane sunao" and "cricket score batao". More skills will be added over time, Amazon said. The new functionality should help Amazon’s smart speaker maintain its lead over Google, which got support for Hindi last year. Vernacular speakers are estimated to account for 75% of India’s internet user base by 2021.

Idea of the Day: Today’s working world requires constant learning by the employee, which companies needs to play an active role in, says author Daniel Burrus.

“The future of your career doesn’t depend on whether employment is available at a given company; it depends on how employable you are.” 

What's your take on today’s stories? Share your thoughts in the comments.

— Mandar M Bakre, Shajil Kumar and Dipti Jain