India’s ride-hailing landscape is witnessing the emergence of a new model that seeks to combine digital technology with cooperative ownership. Bharat Taxi, described as India’s first cooperative-led ride-hailing platform, places drivers at the centre of ownership, governance and earnings while offering passengers a range of urban and intercity mobility services.
Established on June 6, 2025, under the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act, 2002, Bharat Taxi has been created with the support of eight national-level cooperative institutions. The platform is built around the principle of “Saarthi Hi Maalik”, under which drivers, known as Sarathis, are not merely service providers but member owners of the cooperative.
As of July 25, 2026, Bharat Taxi had nearly 8 lakh registered Sarathis and around 41 lakh registered customers. The service is already operational in Delhi-NCR, Gujarat, Lucknow, Chandigarh, Mumbai, Jaipur, Kanpur and Pune, with expansion planned to several other cities in the coming months. The platform aims to achieve a nationwide presence by 2029.
At its core, Bharat Taxi seeks to offer an alternative approach to app-based mobility by combining digital ride-hailing with cooperative participation, transparent fares, social security support and shared economic benefits.
A cooperative alternative to conventional ride-hailing
Bharat Taxi was formally established by eight national-level cooperative institutions – National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC); Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO); National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD); Krishak Bharati Cooperative Limited (KRIBHCO); Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Limited (Amul); National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Limited (NAFED); National Dairy Development Board (NDDB); and National Cooperative Export Limited (NCEL).
The platform was registered under the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act, 2002, which provides the framework for cooperative societies operating across more than one state.
The model is designed around voluntary participation, democratic functioning, institutional autonomy, self-help and mutual assistance. In the case of Bharat Taxi, these principles are applied to digital urban mobility by making drivers members of the cooperative.
The objective is to align the interests of the people providing mobility services with the ownership and growth of the platform itself.
“Saarthi Hi Maalik”: Drivers as member owners
The central feature of Bharat Taxi is its driver-centred cooperative ownership model.
Drivers are called “Sarathis” and are positioned as member owners rather than simply drivers operating on a digital platform. The model gives them a stake in the cooperative and enables them to participate in its governance.
Sarathis can become member owners by subscribing to the cooperative’s share capital. Shares are valued at ₹100 each, while a Sarathi wishing to become a partner can obtain ownership rights by purchasing shares worth ₹500.
The cooperative structure also provides for representation of Sarathi members on the Board of Directors, giving drivers a formal role in shaping policies and operational decisions.
The model therefore seeks to bring together three elements that are often separate in conventional platform businesses-ownership, participation and earnings.
By making drivers stakeholders in the platform, Bharat Taxi aims to create a more participatory mobility ecosystem in which the people contributing their labour also have a role in decision-making and benefit from the platform’s growth.
Zero-commission model puts earnings at the centre
Bharat Taxi operates on a zero-commission and surge-free pricing model.
The platform follows a subscription-based approach under which Sarathis can retain their full fare earnings. Passengers pay the applicable trip fare based on distance, time and market conditions, without additional convenience fees, platform fees or surge pricing through the application.
Under the cooperative’s earnings model, 20% of the cooperative’s earnings are credited to Bharat Taxi as Sarathis’ capital, while the remaining 80% is distributed among Sarathis based on the kilometres travelled by their taxis.
A 7% service charge is levied only at Bharat Taxi-operated airport prepaid booths to cover operational expenses.
The pricing and earnings structure is intended to provide greater transparency to passengers while giving drivers a direct economic stake in the platform.
From a digital platform to a mobility ecosystem
Bharat Taxi is not limited to a single category of ride.
The application provides multiple options for passengers, allowing them to select vehicles based on their journey requirements, passenger capacity, distance and comfort.
The available categories include – 2-Wheeler or Bike Taxi; Auto; Economy Cab; Premium Sedan; XL Cab or SUV; Rentals; Out-Station travel; and Scheduled Rides.
The range allows the platform to cater to short urban journeys, daily commuting, longer intercity trips and pre-planned travel.
Passengers can book rides through the application, while drivers can register as Sarathis through the app or website by submitting the required documents and completing the onboarding process.
For passengers at selected airports, Bharat Taxi also operates prepaid booths, providing an alternative to app-based booking.
A rapidly expanding footprint
The platform’s expansion has already produced a significant user base.
As of July 25, 2026, Bharat Taxi had nearly 8 lakh registered Sarathis and around 41 lakh registered customers.
The platform is currently operational in Delhi-NCR, Gujarat, Lucknow, Chandigarh, Mumbai, Jaipur, Kanpur, and Pune.
Jaipur provides one example of the platform’s growing reach. As of July 25, more than 30,000 Sarathis and nearly 7 lakh customers had joined Bharat Taxi in the city.
The next phase of expansion is expected to take the platform to Ranchi, Patna, Guwahati, Bhopal, Kolkata, Indore and Nagpur in the coming months.
The broader rollout is planned in phases, with Bharat Taxi aiming for a nationwide presence by 2029.
Transparent fares and predictable journeys
Transparency in pricing is another central feature of the platform.
Fare estimates are displayed to passengers in advance, while the system operates without surge pricing. The objective is to provide greater predictability in fare calculations and allow passengers to plan journeys with greater confidence.
For drivers, the zero-commission structure is intended to ensure that the fare earned from a ride is not reduced by conventional platform commissions.
Together, the pricing and ownership arrangements are designed to create a system in which both passengers and drivers have greater clarity about the financial structure of the service.
Creating more opportunities for women
Bharat Taxi has also introduced initiatives specifically aimed at improving women’s participation and mobility.
The Sarathi Didi feature allows women passengers to choose rides operated by women drivers through the application.
The platform has also introduced the Bike Didi initiative to encourage more women to participate as drivers. As of February 2026, more than 150 women drivers had joined Bharat Taxi through the initiative.
These measures seek to address two aspects of mobility simultaneously-improving safety and accessibility for women passengers while expanding livelihood opportunities for women in the transport sector.
Safety built into the platform
Safety is another important component of Bharat Taxi’s operating model.
The platform incorporates police integration and control-room monitoring to provide coordinated oversight and enable responses during emergencies.
Drivers undergo Know Your Customer (KYC) verification, periodic background checks and safety training before and during their association with the platform.
The application includes several safety-related features, including – Live ride tracking; SOS support; Driver ratings; and Safety rating reviews.
The system is designed to ensure that trained and verified drivers remain active on the platform.
This approach seeks to make safety part of the platform architecture rather than treating it solely as an additional service feature.
Connecting Bharat Taxi with India’s digital public infrastructure
Bharat Taxi is also building its digital ecosystem through partnerships with government institutions and technology platforms.
Under its Memorandum of Understanding with the National e-Governance Division (NeGD), the platform receives advisory and technical support within the Digital India framework.
The collaboration enables integration with national digital platforms including DigiLocker, UMANG and API Setu.
DigiLocker
DigiLocker, a flagship Digital India initiative of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, provides citizens with a secure cloud-based platform for storing, verifying and sharing authenticated digital documents.
For Bharat Taxi, such integration supports secure and paperless digital processes.
UMANG
The Unified Mobile Application for New Age Governance (UMANG) brings a wide range of government services from central, state and local government bodies together through a single platform.
Its integration with Bharat Taxi contributes to unified digital access to government services.
API Setu
API Setu is the Government of India’s open API platform for secure and interoperable sharing of data and services across e-governance systems.
Together, these integrations are intended to support paperless Sarathi onboarding, secure digital verification, access to government services, cashless payments and more efficient operations.
Partnerships across transport, finance and insurance
Bharat Taxi has also established partnerships with institutions involved in transport infrastructure, financial services, insurance and digital payments.
Its major institutional partners include – Delhi Traffic Police; Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC); Airport Authority; IFFCO Tokio Insurance; State Bank of India; and Paytm.
These partnerships are aimed at expanding the platform’s service ecosystem and improving convenience for passengers and benefits for Sarathis.
The collaborations also connect Bharat Taxi with existing transport infrastructure and financial and insurance services.
Bringing social security to platform workers
Bharat Taxi’s cooperative model extends beyond earnings and ownership to social security.
Sarathis associated with the platform are facilitated to register on the e-Shram portal, the national database of unorganised workers launched by the Ministry of Labour and Employment.
Registration on e-Shram is intended to help Sarathis access social security and welfare benefits.
According to the initiative, Sarathis and their families become eligible for free medical treatment of up to ₹5 lakh under Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) after registration.
Additional welfare measures include personal accident insurance of ₹5 lakh through IFFCO Tokio at nominal rates, advisory support for long-term driver welfare and insurance solutions, and group health insurance coverage for drivers and their families supported through the Paytm partnership.
The emphasis on social security adds another dimension to Bharat Taxi’s cooperative model, positioning drivers not only as income earners but as members whose broader welfare is part of the platform’s framework.
Strengthening airport connectivity
Airport connectivity is another area where Bharat Taxi has expanded its operations.
The platform has entered into agreements with the Delhi Tourism and Transportation Development Corporation and Delhi Airport Parking Services.
These agreements enable Bharat Taxi’s white cab services to operate at multiple parking locations across terminals of Indira Gandhi International Airport.
The arrangement complements Bharat Taxi’s Kaali Peeli services and is intended to improve the availability of airport rides.
The airport prepaid booths also provide passengers with a direct booking option and form the only part of the platform’s fare structure where the specified 7% service charge is levied to meet operational expenses.
Why the cooperative model matters
Bharat Taxi emerges against the backdrop of an expanding platform economy and increasing dependence on app-based mobility in Indian cities.
Urban transport systems already combine public transport, private vehicles, walking and cycling. App-based ride-hailing has become an additional component, particularly by providing convenient and flexible services and supporting last-mile connectivity.
The cooperative approach seeks to change the relationship between the digital platform and the people who provide the service.
Instead of treating drivers solely as service providers, Bharat Taxi places them within an ownership structure. Through shareholding, board representation and the distribution of cooperative earnings, Sarathis are intended to participate in the platform’s economic and institutional development.
The approach reflects the broader principle of “Sahkar se Samriddhi”, or prosperity through cooperation.
Technology meets democratic ownership
The significance of Bharat Taxi lies in its attempt to combine two models that have traditionally developed along separate paths.
One is the technology-driven platform model, which uses mobile applications, digital payments, live tracking and data-enabled services to connect customers with transport providers.
The other is the cooperative model, which is built around collective ownership, democratic participation and shared economic benefits.
Bharat Taxi seeks to bring these together.
The result is a digital mobility platform in which the driver is simultaneously a service provider and member owner, while passengers receive access to multiple categories of transport through a technology-enabled interface.
The platform’s integration with DigiLocker, UMANG and API Setu further links its operations with India’s broader digital public infrastructure.
Mobility with an emphasis on inclusion
Bharat Taxi’s initiatives for women, social security measures for Sarathis and cooperative ownership structure give the platform a broader social dimension.
The Sarathi Didi feature seeks to give women passengers greater choice, while Bike Didi seeks to increase women’s participation as drivers.
The e-Shram facilitation and insurance and healthcare-related benefits extend the platform’s focus beyond the immediate transaction of a ride.
In this model, mobility is presented not simply as a service but as an ecosystem involving livelihoods, ownership, social security and participation.
The road ahead
Bharat Taxi’s current footprint and planned expansion indicate an attempt to establish cooperative ride-hailing as a scalable model across India.
With nearly 8 lakh registered Sarathis and 41 lakh registered customers as of July 25, 2026, the platform has already established a presence in several major cities.
The planned expansion to Ranchi, Patna, Guwahati, Bhopal, Kolkata, Indore and Nagpur represents the next stage of its rollout, while the broader target is a nationwide presence by 2029.
Its future growth will combine the expansion of its driver and customer base with digital integration, institutional partnerships, women-focused mobility initiatives and social security support.
A new proposition for India’s urban mobility
Bharat Taxi represents an effort to rethink the conventional relationship between technology platforms, drivers and passengers.
Its defining proposition is simple: the people who drive the platform should have a stake in owning and shaping it.
Through its zero-commission model, Sarathi ownership structure, board representation, transparent fares and cooperative earnings framework, Bharat Taxi seeks to place drivers at the heart of the mobility ecosystem.
At the same time, its multiple ride categories, digital booking, safety features, women-centric initiatives, airport services and transparent pricing are designed to serve passengers.
Its partnerships with government agencies, financial institutions, insurance providers and technology platforms add further layers to the ecosystem, while social security measures seek to address the wider welfare of drivers and their families.
With its planned nationwide expansion by 2029, Bharat Taxi is positioning itself as more than another ride-hailing application. It represents an experiment in cooperative digital mobility, bringing together technology, shared ownership, livelihood generation and social security under one platform.
In doing so, the initiative seeks to advance the broader vision of “Sahkar se Samriddhi” by extending the cooperative model into India’s rapidly evolving urban mobility sector.
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