In Bengaluru's fast-paced gig economy, a startup named Beegle is charting a different course, focusing on stability and ethical treatment for domestic workers. While services such as “Insta Maid/Insta Help” by Urban Company have raised concerns about exploitation in the sector, Beegle, founded by IIT Kharagpur alumni Shiv Shankar and Mukesh Ghatiya, is offering a community and worker focused alternative.
Launched in 2021, Beegle emerged from a realisation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Initially conceived as an "Uber for helpers" providing ad-hoc assistance, the founders tapped into the critical need for reliable domestic help. "The idea also came from issues I struggled with personally. My parents live in Kerala, and sometimes I wasn’t in the position to travel to check on them. I just wanted someone reliable to go and see if they were okay and if they needed any help," Shiv Shankar explained.
However, the founders observed that the demand for domestic help was huge and the market did not offer many reliable options. This observation led to a strategic pivot, Mukesh Ghatiya said. "We found that while there was plenty of demand, reliability was key. To achieve that, we needed to work closely with the worker community. It had to be a win-win situation. We spent a lot of time on the ground, understanding what they valued," he said.
Unlike conventional gig platforms, Beegle does not send workers across the city for short-term jobs. Instead, it stations them within large gated communities, ensuring both stability for workers and consistent service for residents. During their conversations with domestic workers, the founders realised that many workers preferred a steady income even if it paid less compared to the unpredictable, high-paying gigs.
“We had a woman who was willing to work for Rs 1000 a month for a steady job, but turned down a gig work which paid her Rs 400 for two hours because it was ad-hoc and her husband questioned the legitimacy of such a short job with good pay,” Shiv said.
The founders also found that many workers faced difficulty in traveling due to restrictions from families or because many did not have a personal vehicle needed for gig work. Setting up service centers within residential communities, eliminated this concern by reducing travel while ensuring continuous employment.
“About 85% of our workforce are women from domestic households. Not only did they prefer steady income but also had hesitations about travelling due to lack of personal transportation. We initially planned on arranging bike taxis for them but they were hesitant about travelling with an unknown man,” Mukesh said.
Beegle’s model involves hiring and training workers, then stationing them within gated communities where they receive a guaranteed base salary along with incentives for overtime, performance, and customer feedback. Workers are also compensated for Sundays, designated holidays, and medical reimbursements for work-related injuries.
“We assign jobs based on their skills and availability. Since domestic work is also physically very strenuous, we provide compulsory buffers between jobs to allow the workers to rest. Even if they get fewer jobs, we ensure they receive their minimum base pay,” Mukesh added.
Currently, Beegle operates ten stations across Bengaluru, processing around 5,000 service requests per month with a workforce of 70 regular helpers. Customers are charged based on time, with different rates for weekdays, weekends, and holidays. The platform ensures fair compensation, with a significant portion—about Rs 225 per task—going directly to the workers.
Beegle has also focused on avoiding unfair penalisation of workers. “Another concern for us was our incentive structure and avoiding unfair penalisation of the workers. On many occasions, we received complaints that a worker was slow. We realised that we couldn’t penalise workers for slow work due to pace being subjective and a multitude of other factors,” Shiv said.
While the startup offers quick services, its primary focus remains on customer and worker satisfaction rather than speed. “We believe that reliability and sustainability are more important than speed. Speed was a byproduct of our platform's model, it was not our primary focus which is on customer and worker satisfaction. We've seen the pressure that quick commerce puts on workers by offering services within a few minutes, and we believe there's a better way to do things,” Mukesh said.
Beegle also continuously engages with organisations and worker rights activists to better understand employment challenges in the domestic help sector such as the joint secretary of Domestic Workers' Rights Union Geeta Menon. “We still continue to learn. We have been in touch with people like Geeta, and a few other organisations as well who have been helping us understand worker issues since we started in 2020,” Shiv said.