VADODARA: A nationwide debut still weeks away, yet Bharat Taxi has already upended the ride-hailing playbook. India’s new cooperative app-based taxi platform — billed as the world’s first national mobility service fully owned by drivers — has become the largest driver-run mobility collective anywhere, even before its full rollout.Sahakar Taxi Cooperative Limited, which promotes the Bharat Taxi brand, enrolled more than 51,000 drivers across New Delhi and Gujarat’s Saurashtra region in just 10 days, surpassing New York’s The Driver’s Cooperative, launched in 2020 with roughly 4,000 members.Tuesday marked a milestone as beta consumer trials began in Delhi, allowing everyday users to test the Bharat Taxi app — now live on Google Play — while drivers activate real-time services. In plain terms: beta trials let riders and drivers use the platform under close monitoring, enabling developers to fix glitches and improve features before a full-scale release. An iOS version is expected soon.“The response is overwhelming,” said Jayen Mehta, chairman of Sahakar Taxi Cooperative Ltd. At the heart of the model is a zero-commission structure. The unique aspect of this model is that 100% of the fare paid by customers goes to the drivers.
