- Read the official press release here.
Bharat Taxi will begin operations across seven major cities, including Nagpur, Pune, Mumbai, Lucknow, Chandigarh, Jaipur and Kolkata, before July 31, and services will be extended to more than 500 cities over the next two years, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said.
Bharat Taxi officially launched in Gujarat: On Saturday, the Union Home Minister announced that the service has begun operations in 14 cities across Gujarat. These include Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara, Rajkot, Dwarka, Somnath, Valsad, Anand, Jamnagar, Bhavnagar, Nadiad, Junagadh, Mehsana and Amreli.
The platform will initially offer services in three categories — two-wheelers, auto-rickshaws and four-wheelers.
To expand its network, Bharat Taxi has signed memoranda of understanding with Gujarat Metro Rail Corporation, Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation/Bus Rapid Transit System, Gujarat State Cooperative Bank, Gujarat Traffic Police, Adani Airport and Airports Authority of India units in Ahmedabad, Surat and Rajkot.
Overall, 7 lakh drivers have joined Bharat Taxi and 37 lakh customers have availed the service.
On allegations of high fares on Bharat Taxi: “I received phone calls today and some newspapers have reported that Bharat Taxi’s fares are higher. I want to tell customers across the country that wherever Bharat Taxi begins operations, competing companies immediately slash their fares and are prepared to incur losses. Our intention is not to inflict losses on anyone, but reducing fares and offering higher commissions to sarathis (drivers) is being done only to prevent Bharat Taxi from entering the market,” Shah said.
“The companies which are today trying to create market pressure by reducing fares and temporarily giving higher commission to Sarathis are doing so only to stop the progress of Bharat Taxi. They want Bharat Taxi to exit the field so that they can again start arbitrary practices,” he added.
What is Bharat Taxi and when was it launched? Bharat Taxi is being positioned as India’s first cooperative-owned, driver-led ride-hailing platform. Unlike existing platforms, which charge drivers a 25-30% commission, Bharat Taxi does not deduct any commission, allowing drivers to retain the entire fare.
- Some reports suggested that Bharat Taxi would give 80% of its profits to drivers while also giving them ownership in the platform. Drivers are also expected to receive additional benefits such as free treatment of up to Rs 5 lakh, insurance and loans.
- The platform was soft-launched in Rajkot and Delhi-NCR in December last year, before its official rollout in February 2026.
- It has also rolled out initiatives such as Bike Didi and Sarathi Didi to spur women’s participation on the platform. According to government estimates, more than 150 women drivers have joined Bharat Taxi so far.
Does Bharat Taxi have an edge over Rapido, Uber? Since Namma Yatri entered the ride-hailing market in 2022, companies like Rapido and even Uber have moved to a zero-commission model for categories such as auto-rickshaws. According to media reports, Rapido is the biggest ride-hailing app in India with a 50% market share. Its market share in cabs is around 30%, second only to Uber. At the moment, it is unclear if Bharat Taxi will be able to lure customers and drivers away from these private cab aggregator platforms.
Meanwhile, state-backed ride-hailing platform Namma Yatri claims to have completed over 160 million trips and enabled more than $300 million in driver earnings without taking any commission. Bharat Taxi has the same backend technology as Namma Yatri, built on the Open Network for Digital Commerce protocol, as well as the same technology service provider, Moving Tech Innovations, which recently acquired Dutch mobility company Automicle Holding BV to enter the European ride-hailing market.
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