Bharat Taxi: Advancing Sahkar se Samriddhi in Urban Transport

Context

India is set to roll out its first cooperative-driven taxi aggregation service, Bharat Taxi, with a formal launch by the Union Minister in New Delhi. The initiative underscores the government’s commitment to fostering people-owned enterprises and advances the philosophy of Sahkar se Samriddhi.

Overview of Bharat Taxi (Cooperative Mobility Platform)

Nature of the initiative: Bharat Taxi is a driver-controlled, cooperative ride-hailing platform developed as a home-grown alternative to private aggregator models such as Ola and Uber, placing drivers (Sarathis) at the centre as co-owners and partners.

Institutional framework: Ministry of Cooperation (strategic direction); Sahkar Taxi Cooperative Limited (implementation agency). The cooperative is registered under the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act, 2002, and came into existence on June 6, 2025.

Objective: To build an equitable and people-centric urban mobility ecosystem by enabling drivers to collectively own and manage the platform, ensuring transparent earnings, social protection, and reduced dependence on commission-heavy intermediaries.

Salient characteristics

Cooperative ownership with drivers as equity holders and governance participants; commission-free and surge-free fare structure, with earnings directly credited to drivers and surplus shared among members; comprehensive welfare package including ₹5 lakh accident cover, ₹5 lakh family health insurance, retirement corpus, and emergency assistance; dedicated programmes for women drivers such as Sarathi Didi and Bike Didi, currently engaging more than 150 women; technology-enabled operations through a multilingual application, live ride tracking, transparent pricing, authenticated trip records, and linkage with police systems; open participation model allowing drivers to remain active on multiple platforms.

Why it matters

Expands the cooperative sector into the digital services domain; strengthens socio-economic security and bargaining power of drivers; and promotes a self-reliant, indigenous mobility solution consistent with the vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat.

Source : The Hindu