Bharat Taxi To Expand To 500 Cities In 2 Years: HM Amit Shah

Government-backed cooperative ride-hailing platform Bharat Taxi plans to expand to more than 500 cities and towns across India within the next 2 years, union home and cooperation minister Amit Shah said today.

He also alleged that private cab aggregators were engaging in unfair competitive practices by slashing fares to block Bharat Taxi’s growth. 

Speaking at the official launch of Bharat Taxi in Gujarat’s Gandhinagar, Shah said the platform will rapidly expand its footprint across major cities before scaling nationwide.

“We will reach Pune, Mumbai, Lucknow, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Kolkata… Bharat Taxi will be in the top seven places, and within two years, combining big and small cities, we plan to roll out two-wheeler, auto, and four-wheeler cabs in 500 towns and cities,” he remarked.

Shah said that the Bharat Taxi drivers now exceed 7 Lakh.  

The remarks came as Shah launched Bharat Taxi’s services in 14 cities across Gujarat, including Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara, Rajkot, Dwarka, Somnath, Jamnagar, Bhavnagar, Junagadh and Mehsana.

Shah Alleges Unfair Competition By Rivals 

During his address, Shah alleged that rival ride-hailing companies were reducing fares and offering higher commissions to drivers to prevent Bharat Taxi from gaining market share.

“Today, I received some phone calls, and some newspapers have reported that Bharat Taxi’s fares are higher. I want to tell customers across the country that wherever Bharat Taxi is entering, competing companies are slashing their fares, ready to incur losses.”

“Our objective in this competition is not to cause losses to anyone. This pattern of reducing fares and offering higher commissions to sarathis (drivers) has been adopted only to stop Bharat Taxi’s entry into the market,” he said.

He added that Bharat Taxi would continue its expansion despite the competition. He also said that the Bharat Taxi’s cooperative ownership model would support drivers with loans, insurance and business expansion.

The minister further accused private cab aggregators of exploiting both drivers and passengers by deducting commissions, delaying payments and suspending drivers without due process.

“For their profits, these companies exploited countless sarathis as well as citizens who used taxi services. Various complaints kept pouring in…sometimes they deducted commissions from the driver’s earnings, and the fare did not reach them for several days,” Shah said.

“If a customer filed a complaint, the registration of the driver or sarathi would be cancelled without even hearing their side,” he added.

Bharat Taxi, launched in February, is India’s first government-backed, driver-owned cooperative ride-hailing platform. It currently operates in Delhi NCR, Gujarat, Lucknow, Chandigarh, Jaipur and Mumbai on a zero-commission model.

India’s Ride-Hailing Race Heats Up

The expansion of the state-backed aggregator comes at a time when India’s ride-hailing market is witnessing heightened competition, with both incumbents and new entrants rolling out fresh offerings to capture a larger share of the rapidly growing market.

While Rapido currently leads the segment with an estimated 50% share of ride volumes across bike taxis, auto-rickshaws and cabs, it continues to face stiff competition from Uber and Ola.

At the same time, new players are entering the market. Earlier this month, VinFast parent Vingroup’s mobility arm Green SM launched its electric cab service, Green SM Limo, in Delhi-NCR. 

Separately, Hyundai Motor and TVS Motor have begun piloting their joint ride-hailing platform, Blue Move, in the Delhi-NCR region.

At the heart of this is India’s ride-hailing services market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 20.7% between 2026 and 2033, reaching a projected size of $11.06 Bn by 2033.

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