Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah launched Bharat Taxi, a cooperative-model taxi service, in Gujarat on Saturday, 27 June 2026, flagging off the initiative from Gandhinagar and taking a ride in the service himself. The launch marks a significant step in the central government's effort to extend cooperative ownership into the urban and semi-urban mobility sector.

Context

Posting on X, Shah described the day as 'very important' (bahut aham) for Gujarat's taxi-driving community. He said Bharat Taxi was designed to make drivers owners with dignity — 'chalakон ko samman ke saath malik banana' [turning drivers into owners with respect] — while simultaneously delivering safe and convenient travel to passengers. He added that the service is being expanded to smaller cities, towns, and villages across the country.

According to figures shared in the post, more than 7 lakh drivers (Saarthis) and over 37 lakh users have already joined the platform. Shah also personally travelled in a Bharat Taxi vehicle in Gandhinagar, signalling political endorsement at the highest level of the cooperative.

Policy Backdrop

Bharat Taxi sits squarely within the mandate of the Ministry of Cooperation, a dedicated central ministry created in July 2021 to modernise and expand India's cooperative sector beyond its traditional strongholds in dairy, credit, and sugar. Shah has headed that ministry since its inception, and has repeatedly cited Gujarat's Amul dairy cooperative — founded in 1946 — as a template for applying the member-ownership model to new economic activities.

The cooperative transport model addresses a structural gap in the gig economy: platform-based cab aggregators have historically kept drivers as contractors with limited income security and no ownership stake. By routing revenue and governance through a cooperative society, Bharat Taxi aims to give drivers a direct share in the platform's earnings and decision-making.

Stakeholders and Impact

The primary beneficiaries are taxi drivers who gain formal membership, ownership rights, and potentially higher net earnings by eliminating intermediary commission layers typical of private aggregator platforms. Passengers, particularly in tier-2 and tier-3 cities and rural areas underserved by existing cab services, stand to gain organised, safer transport options.

Gujarat's launch is significant given the state's deep cooperative culture. The expansion roadmap explicitly targets small towns, townships, and villages, areas where private aggregators have limited penetration, suggesting a deliberate policy to formalise informal transport workers at scale.

What's Next

The government's stated intent to roll out Bharat Taxi nationally means other states are likely to be brought under the cooperative's umbrella in coming months. Observers will watch for any supporting legislation or budgetary allocations for cooperative transport societies in the next parliamentary session, as well as whether the driver and user numbers continue to grow as the network expands beyond Gujarat.