Amit Shah launches cooperative-based Bharat Taxi, promises expansion from Kashmir to Kanyakumari

New Delhi, Feb 5: Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah launched Bharat Taxi, India’s first cooperative-based taxi service, and said the initiative would expand “from Kashmir to Kanyakumari” within the next three years, positioning it as a major welfare platform for taxi drivers across the country. Addressing the launch, Shah said the government was not entering the taxi business, but enabling a cooperative ownership model. “The government is not entering the taxi sector; cooperation is entering the taxi sector,” he said, adding that Bharat Taxi would ensure drivers themselves remain the real owners of the platform.

Highlighting the proposed nationwide footprint, Amit Shah said, “From Kashmir to Kanyakumari and from Dwarka to Kamakhya, Sahakar Taxi will become a very big medium for the welfare of our taxi Sarathis.” Under the model, drivers will not be charged any commission, with payments transferred directly into their bank accounts. “Till now, the wheel of the taxi used to put money into someone else’s pocket. Now, the earnings from that wheel will go into the Sarathi’s own pocket,” Amit Shah said.

The service brings together two-, three- and four-wheeler taxis and includes a dedicated Sarathi Didi feature to enhance women’s safety. Bharat Taxi has also signed memorandums of understanding with nine public and private institutions, including Delhi Traffic Police, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, Airports Authority of India, State Bank of India and Paytm, to strengthen operations, digital integration and driver welfare. The commercial rollout begins in Delhi-NCR and parts of Gujarat, with a phased expansion planned across all states, including Jammu and Kashmir.