Union cooperation minister Amit Shah has announced that a cooperative-backed cab-hailing platform branded ‘Bharat Taxi’ is set for rollout, positioning it as an alternative to private aggregators and promising that drivers will retain the full proceeds of their work. Speaking at a conference organised by Krishak Bharati Cooperative Limited in Panchkula, Shah said the initiative is designed to create new employment opportunities while correcting what he described as an imbalance in the distribution of profits within the taxi services sector.Shah told the gathering that while multiple companies currently operate taxi platforms across the country, a significant share of earnings flows to owners and intermediaries rather than drivers. Under the ministry of cooperation’s initiative, he said, the proposed platform would channel the entire profit directly to drivers, whom he referred to as “our driver brothers”, framing the project as part of a broader push to strengthen cooperative models in services traditionally dominated by private capital.
The announcement places Bharat Taxi within the government’s wider effort to expand the cooperative economy beyond agriculture and credit into newer areas such as logistics, retail and digital services. Officials familiar with the proposal say the platform is intended to be owned and managed through a cooperative structure, allowing drivers to become members with a stake in governance and revenue. The model is being presented as a way to combine technology-led convenience for passengers with income security and decision-making power for drivers.
Cab-hailing has grown rapidly over the past decade, reshaping urban transport and employment patterns. Platform-based services have offered flexible work and scale, but drivers’ associations have repeatedly raised concerns over commission rates, incentive structures and unilateral changes to pricing algorithms. Against this backdrop, the proposed cooperative platform is being positioned as a corrective, offering transparency and predictable earnings while still leveraging app-based booking and digital payments.
Shah’s remarks at the Panchkula event linked Bharat Taxi to the government’s narrative of “cooperation among cooperatives”, a phrase used to describe efforts to federate existing cooperative institutions and deploy them in new economic activities. Krishak Bharati Cooperative Limited, known primarily for its role in fertiliser production, has been cited as an example of how cooperatives can operate at national scale while remaining member-driven, and the event underscored the ministry’s ambition to replicate such structures in other sectors.
Industry analysts note that translating the concept into a functioning nationwide platform will require significant coordination, capital and technological capability. Private cab aggregators have invested heavily in software, mapping, customer acquisition and safety features, and they operate in a highly competitive environment with thin margins. For a cooperative model to succeed, it would need to match service reliability while maintaining lower overheads and ensuring compliance with transport regulations across states.
Drivers’ unions and associations have cautiously welcomed the emphasis on higher take-home earnings, though some have said details on pricing, insurance, dispute resolution and onboarding will determine whether the platform can gain traction. Past attempts to launch alternative, driver-friendly platforms in various cities have struggled to scale or retain users without sustained marketing and technological upgrades.
Officials in the cooperation ministry say the project is being designed to avoid those pitfalls by leveraging existing cooperative networks and public-sector digital infrastructure. They argue that a nationally backed brand and a clear revenue-sharing promise could attract both drivers and passengers, particularly if fares remain competitive. The ministry has also highlighted job creation potential, suggesting that the platform could absorb drivers who have left or been marginalised within existing aggregator ecosystems.