Bharat Taxi, a government-backed cooperative ride-hailing platform, announced plans to expand to over 500 cities and towns across India within the next two years, Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah said today. The platform launched services in 14 cities across Gujarat, including Ahmedabad, Surat, and Vadodara, marking the start of its rapid expansion across major urban centers.
At the official launch event in Gandhinagar, Amit Shah detailed the expansion strategy, stating that Bharat Taxi aims to cover cities such as Pune, Mumbai, Lucknow, Chandigarh, Jaipur, and Kolkata. The platform intends to offer two-wheeler, auto, and four-wheeler cab services in these locations. Shah also highlighted that Bharat Taxi now has over 700,000 drivers registered on its platform, underscoring the scale of its operations.
The expansion comes amid allegations from Shah that private cab aggregators are engaging in unfair competitive practices by slashing fares and offering higher commissions to drivers to block Bharat Taxi's growth. The government-backed model seeks to challenge established players by focusing on cooperative ownership and wider geographic coverage, potentially reshaping the ride-hailing market in India.
Bharat Taxi’s launch in Gujarat’s 14 cities today is the first step in its nationwide rollout, with the platform targeting to be present in the top seven cities initially and then scaling to 500 towns and cities within two years, according to Amit Shah’s remarks.