Bharat Taxi Gains Momentum, Adds 45,000 Users a Day Ahead of Nationwide Rollout

A new government-supported entrant is beginning to make its mark in India’s competitive ride-hailing market. Bharat Taxi, a cooperative-based cab aggregation app backed by the Ministry of Cooperation, is witnessing strong early traction, with tens of thousands of users signing up daily just days after its launch.

According to an update shared by the Ministry of Cooperation on X, Bharat Taxi has already crossed four lakh registered users. Over the last two days alone, the platform has been adding nearly 40,000 to 45,000 new users each day. The ministry described the current phase as a run-up to a larger nationwide rollout, positioning the app within the broader “Atmanirbhar Bharat” and “Sahkar Se Samriddhi” vision championed by Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah.

The app is currently available on both Android and iOS. On app store charts, Bharat Taxi has climbed to ninth place on the Google Play Store and thirteenth on Apple’s App Store, while its companion app for drivers is ranked twentieth on the Play Store. These rankings suggest growing curiosity among both riders and drivers, even as the platform is still in its early stages.

Formally introduced by Amit Shah, Bharat Taxi is being pitched as a transparent, driver-friendly alternative to existing cab-hailing services. The app claims to offer police-verified drivers and a cooperative ownership model designed to empower those behind the wheel. From a user’s perspective, the interface is clean and intuitive, making city ride bookings fairly straightforward. Beyond cab rides, the app also includes features such as metro ticket booking and a rental option that allows users to book vehicles for up to 12 hours.

Safety is another area where Bharat Taxi is making visible promises. The app prominently highlights emergency tools, including the ability to call the police, alert saved contacts, reach a safety team, and activate a siren from within the app. While these features mirror options already available on platforms like Uber, their effectiveness at scale will become clearer only with wider real-world usage.

Early hands-on experience, however, suggests the service is still a work in progress. Pricing does not always appear as competitive as some users might expect from a government-backed platform. In certain cases, fares were slightly higher, and there were inconsistencies such as identical prices for AC and non-AC cabs, pointing to possible technical glitches. On the plus side, onboarding is quick and simple, requiring only a mobile number, name, and email address. Setting up a profile takes less than a minute.

One of Bharat Taxi’s most talked-about commitments is its approach to driver earnings. At launch, the platform is not charging any commission from drivers, meaning the full fare paid by passengers goes directly to them. However, an ET Now report suggested that a fee of up to 20 percent may be introduced later, with claims that this amount would be redistributed back to drivers in some form. The platform also plans to introduce dedicated pickup and drop points at airports, similar to those used by Ola and Uber, with potential expansion to other major transport hubs.

As user numbers continue to climb and a full-scale national launch is teased, Bharat Taxi’s early momentum is evident. Its long-term success, however, will depend on execution—balancing demand and supply, maintaining competitive pricing, and delivering consistently on safety and reliability as it scales.