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Bharat Taxi, described as the country's first cooperative-led ride-hailing platform, is operated by Sahakar Taxi Cooperative Limited, a multi-state cooperative society registered under the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act, 2002.
As on 28 July 2026, 8.27 lakh Sarathis — drivers — had been registered on the platform, with Delhi-NCR accounting for 2.61 lakh.
Eight national cooperative institutions support the platform: NCDC, IFFCO, AMUL (GCMMF), KRIBHCO, NAFED, NABARD, NDDB and NCEL.
The Government has clarified that no financial assistance, equity support or incentive has been provided for establishing or expanding the platform.
Two other cooperative institutions figure in the same set of replies: Tribhuvan Sahkari University, with 350 students enrolled for 2026-27 and 16 affiliated institutions across 10 States and UTs, and BBSSL, which has introduced 18 crops and 124 varieties under the 'Bharat Beej' brand.
Offer a driver-centric alternative mobility platform on the cooperative model rather than replacing private aggregators
Key: Drivers join as members and stakeholders; governance runs through a Chairman, Vice-Chairman, CEO, COO, departmental heads, regional offices and city-level teams; fares are set through a framework developed after consulting State Transport Authorities and Sarathi representatives. Expansion is planned around airports, railway stations and metro systems for last-mile connectivity
Produce trained manpower for the cooperative sector and provide education and capacity building to cooperative employees and board members
Key: Mandated under the Tribhuvan Sahkari University Act, 2025; builds a pan-India network of affiliated institutes and outlying campuses, with 16 institutions in 10 States and UTs affiliated so far
Act as an apex cooperative for quality seed production, procurement, processing, branding, storage, marketing and distribution, and to preserve and promote indigenous natural seeds
Key: Markets seeds under the 'Bharat Beej' brand through member cooperative societies, private distributors, State Seed Federations and Seed Corporations; registered under the MSCS Act, 2002 in July 2023 along with NCEL and NCOL, and promoted by IFFCO, KRIBHCO, NAFED, NDDB and NCDC with KRIBHCO as chief promoter
A conventional ride-hailing aggregator is a company owned by investors. Drivers are suppliers of a service to that company, the commission it charges is the return to capital, and drivers have no claim on either the profits or the decisions. A cooperative inverts the ownership: the drivers are the members of the society, so the surplus and the governance belong to the people doing the work. That is why the release calls Bharat Taxi 'driver-centric' and describes Sarathis as members and stakeholders rather than partners. Two features follow from the legal form. Because Sahakar Taxi Cooperative Limited operates across state boundaries, it must be registered as a multi-state cooperative society under the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act, 2002 — a central statute, since a state cooperative law cannot govern a society spanning several states. And because it is a cooperative rather than a government body, the Ministry has been able to state plainly that no public money, equity or incentive has gone into it; the support from NCDC, IFFCO, AMUL, KRIBHCO, NAFED, NABARD, NDDB and NCEL is institutional and promotional rather than financial.
Simple Analogy: In the usual model the drivers rent the platform; in this one they own it.
Provides a separate administrative, legal and policy framework for the cooperative movement; administers the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act, 2002
One of the eight national cooperative institutions supporting Bharat Taxi, and a promoter of BBSSL
The national multi-state cooperative for seeds, one of three registered under the MSCS Act, 2002 in July 2023 alongside the National Cooperative Exports Limited (NCEL) and the National Cooperative Organics Limited (NCOL)
The national university for cooperative education and training, created by the Tribhuvan Sahkari University Act, 2025
The central statute governing cooperative societies whose objects extend beyond one state, under which Sahakar Taxi Cooperative Limited, BBSSL, NCEL and NCOL are all registered
A Directive Principle inserted by the 97th Constitutional Amendment directing the State to promote voluntary formation, autonomous functioning, democratic control and professional management of cooperative societies
Added Article 43B and Part IXB on cooperative societies, and made forming cooperative societies a fundamental right. The Supreme Court in 2021 struck down parts of the amendment, with the effect that Part IXB now operates principally in relation to multi-state cooperative societies, while Article 43B and the fundamental right survive
The statutes under which Bharat Taxi stores customer data in encrypted form
The cooperative form is presented as an answer to the position of platform drivers, who in the conventional model bear the costs of the vehicle without any share in the platform
A society operating across state boundaries must register centrally under the MSCS Act, 2002, which is also the boundary the Supreme Court drew when it read down Part IXB in 2021
BBSSL's mandate expressly includes preserving and promoting indigenous natural seeds, linking cooperatives to the wider debate on seed systems and farmer varieties
Tribhuvan Sahkari University's four MBA streams — rural management, agribusiness, cooperative banking and cooperative management — show the manpower gap the cooperative sector is trying to close
GS Paper 2 > Governance and Statutory Bodies; GS Paper 3 > Economy and Employment
General Awareness > Polity and Current Affairs
General Awareness > Cooperative Sector and Rural Institutions
General Awareness > Current Affairs
The cooperative sector has become a recurring theme since the Ministry of Cooperation was created, and new national cooperatives appear regularly in Prelims
The term used for a driver-member of the Bharat Taxi cooperative platform
A cooperative whose objects extend beyond one state, registered under the central Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act, 2002
The Directive Principle requiring the State to promote voluntary formation, autonomous functioning, democratic control and professional management of cooperatives
The seed brand under which BBSSL markets 18 crops and 124 varieties
The three national-level multi-state cooperative societies registered in July 2023 for exports, organic produce and seeds respectively