Bharat Taxi: India’s First Driver-Owned Cab Service Takes on Ola and Uber
Govt launches cooperative taxi service giving drivers full control and passengers fair fares.
The Union government has launched Bharat Taxi, India’s first cooperative taxi service, designed to take on cab giants like Ola and Uber. Developed under the Ministry of Cooperation and the National e-Governance Division (NeGD), the platform aims to give drivers full control over their earnings while providing passengers a transparent, government-supervised travel option.
For years, app-based taxi aggregators have faced criticism over inflated fares, poor service standards, and excessive commission cuts. Drivers often lose up to 25% of their income to platform fees, a problem Bharat Taxi seeks to eliminate. Instead of sharing revenue, drivers under the new model will pay only a nominal membership fee — daily, weekly, or monthly — ensuring they keep a majority of their earnings.
The pilot program is set to begin in November in Delhi, launching with 650 taxis operated by owner-drivers. A full-scale expansion will follow in December across major cities such as Mumbai, Pune, Lucknow, Bhopal, and Jaipur. Officials estimate that around 5,000 drivers will join during the initial national rollout, with an ambitious goal to have 1 lakh drivers onboard by 2030, covering both urban and rural routes.
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Bharat Taxi will operate as a cooperative enterprise under Sahakar Taxi Cooperative Limited, established in June 2025 with an initial capital of ₹300 crore. Oversight will be handled by a governing council chaired by Jayen Mehta, Managing Director of the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (Amul), with Rohit Gupta, Deputy Managing Director of NCDC, serving as Vice Chairman.
By March 2026, the government aims to make Bharat Taxi operational across all metro regions, providing a driver-owned and transparent alternative to private mobility platforms. The move not only challenges existing aggregator dominance but also signals a major shift toward cooperative entrepreneurship in India’s ride-hailing industry.
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