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A PIB Backgrounder issued on 17 August 2026 profiles Bharat Taxi, India's first cooperative-led ride-hailing platform, established on 6 June 2025 under the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act, 2002.
It was set up by eight national-level cooperative institutions — NCDC, IFFCO, NABARD, KRIBHCO, Amul (GCMMF), NAFED, NDDB and NCEL.
The platform runs a zero-commission, surge-free model: drivers, called Sarathis, retain their full fare earnings and pay a subscription instead of a per-ride commission.
As of 25 July 2026 it had nearly 8 lakh registered Sarathis and about 41 lakh registered customers across Delhi-NCR, Gujarat, Lucknow, Chandigarh, Mumbai, Jaipur, Kanpur and Pune, with a nationwide presence targeted by 2029.
Sarathis become member-owners by buying shares of Rs 100 each — ownership rights come with shares worth Rs 500 — and have reserved seats on the Board of Directors.
Statutory corporation established by an Act of Parliament in 1963 to plan and promote programmes for the production, processing, marketing and storage of agricultural produce through cooperatives; now under the Ministry of Cooperation
Fertiliser cooperative registered on 3 November 1967 as a multi-unit cooperative society; began with 57 member cooperatives and is today one of the world's largest cooperatives by turnover
Apex development bank for agriculture and rural development, established on 12 July 1982 on the recommendations of the B. Sivaraman Committee (CRAFICARD)
Set up in 1965 under the leadership of Dr Verghese Kurien and declared an institution of national importance by an Act of Parliament in 1987; the institution behind Operation Flood and the White Revolution
Apex cooperative for the marketing of agricultural produce, established on 2 October 1958; a central procurement agency for pulses and oilseeds under price support operations
Umbrella multi-state cooperative society for cooperative-sector exports, established on 25 January 2023 under the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act, 2002
KRIBHCO, incorporated on 17 April 1980, is a multi-state fertiliser cooperative producing urea, ammonia, seeds and bio-fertilisers; GCMMF, set up in 1973, markets dairy products under the Amul brand and is the apex marketing tier of Gujarat's three-tier dairy cooperative structure built on NDDB's Anand pattern
Governs cooperative societies whose objects extend to more than one state — the reason Bharat Taxi, NCEL and similar national bodies are registered under it rather than under a state cooperative law. It provides for voluntary formation, democratic member control and institutional autonomy. Its 2023 amendment added governance reforms including a Cooperative Ombudsman, an Election Authority and a National Cooperative Database.
The Ministry was carved out by a Cabinet Secretariat gazette notification dated 6 July 2021, taking over the cooperation-related work of the erstwhile Ministry of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare. It is headed by the Union Home Minister, Shri Amit Shah, and its guiding vision is 'Sahkar se Samriddhi'.
A conventional ride-hailing app is owned by shareholders who are not drivers; it takes a commission on each ride and can apply surge pricing, and the driver is a service provider to the platform. A platform cooperative inverts the ownership: the workers who supply the service also hold the shares, elect the leadership and receive the surplus. Bharat Taxi implements this through three mechanisms named in the release — shareholding open to Sarathis at Rs 100 per share, reserved seats for Sarathi members on the Board of Directors, and a revenue rule under which 20% of earnings become Sarathis' capital while 80% is distributed by kilometres travelled. Its income comes from a subscription rather than a per-ride commission, which is what allows the zero-commission claim to hold.
Simple Analogy: It is the Amul model applied to city transport: instead of dairy farmers pooling milk and owning the marketing federation, drivers pool rides and own the app.
A national database of unorganised workers, seeded with Aadhaar, that enables targeted delivery of social security and welfare schemes
Key: Launched by the Ministry of Labour and Employment on 26 August 2021; registrants receive a Universal Account Number. Bharat Taxi facilitates Sarathi registration on it, which is the gateway to the welfare benefits below.
Health cover of Rs 5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation
Key: Launched on 23 September 2018 at Ranchi, Jharkhand and administered by the National Health Authority. Registered Sarathis and their families become eligible for free treatment up to Rs 5 lakh under it.
A secure cloud platform to store, verify and share authenticated digital documents
Key: A Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology initiative under Digital India; Bharat Taxi uses it for paperless Sarathi onboarding.
A single mobile application giving citizens access to central, state and local government services
Key: Delivered through app, chatbot, voice bot and website; Bharat Taxi integrates with it under an MoU with the National e-Governance Division (NeGD).
An open API platform of the Government of India enabling secure and interoperable sharing of data and services across e-governance systems
Key: Provides the interoperability layer for Bharat Taxi's verification and service integrations.
An open, interoperable network that lets buyers and sellers transact across different apps rather than inside a single platform's walled garden
Key: Incorporated as a Section 8 (not-for-profit) company in December 2021 under an initiative of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade; it is the closest policy parallel to Bharat Taxi in intent — both attack platform concentration, ONDC through interoperability and Bharat Taxi through worker ownership.
Cooperative societies are a State subject, which is precisely why national-level bodies need the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act, 2002 — a central law for societies operating across state lines.
e-Shram registration is the mechanism through which platform workers are brought into the formal social-security net; Bharat Taxi's model shows how a platform can be made the registration channel rather than an obstacle to it.
NDDB and Amul, two of Bharat Taxi's founders, are the institutions of the White Revolution. The three-tier village-district-state cooperative structure they built is the template being adapted here to a service delivered through an app.
GS Paper 2 > Governance > Government Policies and Interventions for Development in Various Sectors
General Awareness > Government Schemes and Institutions
General Awareness > Cooperative Institutions and Financial Inclusion
General Awareness > Current Affairs
Cooperative institutions and their founding details are asked most years in SSC and banking papers; the Ministry of Cooperation has recurred in UPSC Prelims since 2021
A Bharat Taxi driver, who is also a member-owner of the cooperative
A cooperative whose objects extend to more than one state, registered under the central Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act, 2002 rather than a state law
'Prosperity through cooperatives' — the guiding vision of the Ministry of Cooperation, created on 6 July 2021
A platform that takes no per-ride cut, earning instead from a driver subscription