Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: Bharat Taxi charges its drivers no commission. The part almost nobody explains is how the money actually moves — and it is set out, line by line, in the government’s own backgrounder.
The Press Information Bureau published a research backgrounder on Bharat Taxi this afternoon, and it is unusually specific about the mechanics of a scheme that is normally described only in slogans. Bharat Taxi is India’s first cooperative-led ride-hailing platform, registered under the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act, 2002 and formally established on 6 June 2025 by eight national cooperative institutions: the National Cooperative Development Corporation, IFFCO, NABARD, KRIBHCO, Amul’s Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation, NAFED, the National Dairy Development Board and the National Cooperative Exports Limited. Drivers on the platform are called Sarathis, and they are members rather than contractors.
Here is how the money moves. There is no commission and no surge pricing; a passenger pays a fare based on distance, time and market conditions, with no platform or convenience fee added in the app. Of the cooperative’s earnings, 20 per cent is credited back into Bharat Taxi as the Sarathis’ own capital, and the remaining 80 per cent is distributed among Sarathis on the basis of the kilometres their taxis have run. A 7 per cent service charge applies in one place only — at prepaid booths that Bharat Taxi itself operates at airports — to cover operating costs. Ownership works through shares of ₹100 each: a driver who wants to become a member-owner can acquire ownership rights by buying ₹500 worth of shares, and the board of directors carries seats reserved for Sarathi members.
The market being re-plumbed: taxis and autorickshaws in an Indian city. Bharat Taxi’s ride categories run from two-wheeler and autorickshaw to premium sedan, SUV and outstation travel.
Twenty per cent back as the drivers’ own capital, eighty per cent out by kilometres run, and a 7 per cent charge in exactly one place. That is the whole formula.
At a Glance
• Established: 6 June 2025, under the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act, 2002
• Founders: NCDC, IFFCO, NABARD, KRIBHCO, Amul (GCMMF), NAFED, NDDB, NCEL
• Commission on fares: nil · Surge pricing: none
• Earnings split: 20 per cent to Sarathi capital, 80 per cent distributed by kilometres run
• Service charge: 7 per cent, only at Bharat Taxi airport prepaid booths
• Share value: ₹100 each; ₹500 confers ownership rights
• As on 25 July 2026: about 8 lakh registered Sarathis, about 41 lakh customers
• Jaipur alone: over 30,000 Sarathis, about 7 lakh customers
• Running in: Delhi-NCR, Gujarat, Lucknow, Chandigarh, Mumbai, Jaipur, Kanpur, Pune
• Next: Ranchi, Patna, Guwahati, Bhopal, Kolkata, Indore, Nagpur
• Nationwide target: 2029
• Women drivers under Bike Didi: over 150, as of February 2026
Scale, as of 25 July 2026, is about 8 lakh registered Sarathis and about 41 lakh registered customers, with services running in Delhi-NCR, Gujarat, Lucknow, Chandigarh, Mumbai, Jaipur, Kanpur and Pune. Jaipur is the instructive case: more than 30,000 Sarathis and roughly 7 lakh customers in one city. Ranchi, Patna, Guwahati, Bhopal, Kolkata, Indore and Nagpur are named for the coming months, with a nationwide footprint targeted by 2029. Two features are aimed squarely at women — Sarathi Didi, which lets a woman passenger choose a ride driven by a woman, and Bike Didi, under which more than 150 women drivers had joined as of February 2026.
What a reader should take away is the social-security package attached, because it is the part with cash value and the part least understood. Sarathis are helped to register on the e-Shram portal, which makes the driver and his family eligible for treatment worth up to ₹5 lakh under Ayushman Bharat-PM Jan Arogya Yojana; personal accident cover of ₹5 lakh is available at nominal rates through IFFCO Tokio; and group health cover for drivers and families is supported through the Paytm partnership. Integration with DigiLocker, UMANG and API Setu under an agreement with the National e-Governance Division makes onboarding paperless. The scale-up to a nationwide network by 2029 is the demanding part — a cooperative without surge revenue has thinner margins to fund market entry — and it is where the eight founding institutions’ balance sheets will matter more than the app.
