India's domestic workers go online as instant services boom

Platforms such as Snabbit, Pronto and Urban Company function much like ride-hailing apps, where workers receive bookings online, travel to assigned homes and clock in on their phones.

NEW DELHI - Racing against a stopwatch, a group of women folds bedsheets as they train to join an Indian startup that offers instant home services, transforming a traditionally word-of-mouth sector and promising better pay.

Households in India have long relied on an informal army of domestic workers to mop floors, wash dishes and cook meals.