Bharat Taxi launched in five UP cities, over 10 lakh drivers have joined: Govt

Bharat Taxi, a cooperative-based cab service, was on Wednesday launched in five Uttar Pradesh cities, with the government saying more than 10 lakh drivers have joined the platform since its launch in February this year.

The service was launched in Lucknow, Gorakhpur, Varanasi, Kanpur and Prayagraj at a programme addressed by Union Minister of State for Cooperation Murlidhar Mohol.

Around 40,000 drivers, referred to as 'Saarthis', have registered across the five cities and will soon start providing services to passengers, the Ministry of Cooperation said.

Bharat Taxi is based on the model of "Driver is the Owner", under which drivers are members and stakeholders in the cooperative structure rather than merely service providers.

Mohol said more than 10 lakh Saarthis have joined Bharat Taxi within six months of its launch.

About 40 lakh passengers have also joined the service, while more than ₹100 crore has been credited to the accounts of Saarthis over the last six months, according to the ministry.

Unlike conventional aggregator models, where drivers pay a share of their earnings as commission, Bharat Taxi seeks to ensure that earnings are credited directly to the drivers' accounts while also giving them a stake in ownership and participation in decision-making.

The service is already operating in parts of Delhi, Gujarat, Mumbai, Jaipur and Chandigarh.

The Airport Authority, Lucknow Metro Rail and Lucknow Police exchanged memoranda of understanding with Bharat Taxi.

Mohol said the government has launched more than 160 initiatives over the last five years to strengthen and modernise the cooperative sector.

India has around 8.5 lakh cooperative societies with nearly 32 crore members, and the sector is active across about 30 different areas, he said.

The minister said computerisation of around 80,000 Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) is underway across the country at a cost of about ₹3,000 crore.

Mohol also highlighted the creation of national-level cooperative organisations for seeds, organic products and exports.

About 70,000 cooperative societies have become associated with Bharatiya Beej Sahakari Samiti Limited, National Cooperative Organics Limited and National Cooperative Exports Limited, he said.

Mohol said financial assistance extended by the National Cooperative Development Corporation to the cooperative sector has risen from around ₹45,000 crore between its establishment in 1963 and 2014 to nearly ₹4.5 lakh crore over the last 12 years.

In Uttar Pradesh, around 42,000 cooperative societies are currently functioning, while more than 54 lakh new members, including about 17.5 lakh farmers, have been enrolled under the M-PACS membership campaign.

Around 6,300 PACS are being computerised in three phases in the state, along with about 750 agricultural and rural cooperative bank units.

Since April 2026, more than 1,200 new M-PACS, dairy, fisheries and other cooperative societies have been formed in Uttar Pradesh, adding around one lakh members, while nearly 22 lakh new members have joined existing cooperative societies.

The ministry said about 5,200 Common Service Centres are being operated through PACS in the state. Around 7,000 M-PACS are functioning as Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samriddhi Kendras and 161 as Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Kendras.

Sixteen district cooperative banks have also been revived with assistance of around ₹307 crore, Mohol said.