Bharat Taxi enters ride-hailing market with cooperative, driver-owned model

Bharat Taxi, a cooperative-led platform positioned as a driver-owned alternative to private aggregators such as Uber and Ola is being launched today.

Launched officially in New Delhi on 5 February 2026, Bharat Taxi operates under a fundamentally different structure from what the existing platforms follow. Instead of treating drivers as independent contractors, the platform is run as a multi-state cooperative, with drivers, known as Sarathis, enrolled as members, shareholders and co-owners.

The launch was preceded by a pilot in Delhi-NCR and Rajkot in late 2025. This offered an early test of its cooperative model in markets dominated by private aggregators. While driver interest was strong, the pilot exposed challenges around demand generation and fare competitiveness in the initial months.

The service is operated by Sahakar Taxi Cooperative Limited (STCL) under the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act, 2002, and is supported by institutions including the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC), Amul and NABARD. Representatives from these bodies sit on the cooperative’s interim board.

Bharat Taxi’s pitch is its zero-commission model. Rather than paying a percentage of each fare, drivers pay a low, flat daily access fee, expected to be around Rs 30 for taxis and Rs 18 for auto-rickshaws, and retain the bulk of their earnings. Drivers can also buy shares in the cooperative, with a minimum investment of Rs 500, entitling them to voting rights and future dividends once the platform becomes profitable.

This contrasts sharply with the traditional model followed by Uber and Ola, which are venture-backed private companies where drivers historically paid commissions of 15–30 per cent per ride, though both firms have recently experimented with flat-fee and zero-commission subscriptions in some segments.

The cooperative structure, officials say, aligns driver welfare with platform performance, offering long-term stability rather than short-term gig work. Drivers are promised access to health insurance, accident cover and retirement savings, along with an organised support framework.

Bharat Taxi is also positioning itself as a response to consumer frustration over dynamic pricing. The platform offers fixed, transparent fares without algorithm-driven surge pricing, even during peak hours or adverse weather.

For auto-rickshaws, the minimum fare is set at Rs 30 for journeys up to 4 km. Trips between 4 km and 12 km are charged at Rs 23 per km, while longer distances cost Rs 18 per km. A Rs 20 pickup charge applies, along with a waiting fee of Re 1 per minute after the first five minutes. During peak traffic hours, a congestion surcharge of up to 15 per cent may be levied, alongside a standard driver-related charge of Rs 10.

Officials claim fares could be as much as 30 per cent lower than those charged by Uber and Ola during high-demand periods. “We don’t want to be the cheapest, but the fairest price in the market,” a government official told the Indian Express.

To boost adoption, Bharat Taxi has focused on high-footfall locations such as airports, metro stations and railway hubs. The government has also urged central and state departments to promote the app within official premises and communication channels, without disrupting routine operations, according to a January advisory.

The platform has already onboarded around 400,000 drivers, including over 150 women, and is completing over 10,000 rides a day, the government said this week. The ambition is to expand nationwide by 2029 and become the country’s largest ride-hailing app.

According to Vivek Pandey, chief operating officer of Bharat Taxi, government backing offers practical advantages. “Amul has thousands of booths across the country where we can market, and we can access insurance through IFFCO Tokio. We’ve also signed an agreement with Delhi Metro for preferential treatment at 10 stations,” he said.

Early struggles on the ground

Despite the optimistic projections, early feedback from drivers and passengers suggests the rollout has been uneven.

Some drivers in pilot cities such as Delhi-NCR and Rajkot have reported low booking volumes and earnings below expectations. Ashok, a Delhi-based driver, said he earned around Rs 350 for a 15 km airport trip that would typically fetch Rs 600 through other platforms, though he remains hopeful demand will grow as awareness increases.

Passengers have also flagged operational teething troubles. Long queues at airport booths and inconsistent pricing have led to frustration for some early users, as reported by The Indian Express. Others have complained that fares at certain locations are higher than what they previously paid on rival apps.

Drivers, meanwhile, argue that fare levels across the industry have failed to keep pace with rising costs. Fuel prices, vehicle insurance and maintenance expenses have increased sharply in recent years, while aggregator rates have largely remained static. For many, Bharat Taxi represents an opportunity to influence pricing from within the system, rather than being subject to opaque algorithms.

The government hopes Bharat Taxi will evolve as a way to reduce drivers’ dependence on private platforms and bring cooperative principles into urban mobility. “It is aimed at freeing the country’s commercial vehicle drivers from dependence on private companies,” Amit Shah told Parliament earlier this year, according to Firstpost. Whether the model can scale sustainably while balancing fair fares, driver incomes and service quality remains an open question.

With agency inputs