Bharat Taxi will not let drivers earn below base rate, says Amit Shah

New Delhi: Union Cooperation minister Amit Shah on Monday said the newly launched cooperative cab service Bharat Taxi will guarantee a minimum base rate per kilometre for all drivers on its platform, asserting that existing ride-hailing aggregators had deliberately avoided setting such a floor to maximise corporate profits at the expense of workers.

Addressing a town hall interaction with cab and auto drivers from Delhi-NCR and Gujarat, Shah said the cooperative ride-hailing platform would return 80 per cent of profits to drivers based on kilometres driven, with the remaining 20 per cent retained as cooperative capital.

"I asked all three companies whether they had set a minimum base rate for their drivers. They said no," Shah told the gathering during the 40-minute interaction. "We will not do this. Whatever business you do, your minimum should be fixed. And whatever is more than that has to come back to you."

Shah drew repeated parallels between Bharat Taxi and the Amul Dairy cooperative, which he described as a template for worker-owned enterprise at scale. "36 lakh mothers and sisters invested just Rs 50 each and built Amul, which has a turnover of Rs 1,25,000 crore," he said. "In a private dairy, the profit goes to the owner. In Amul, 85 per cent goes back to the producer. Bharat Taxi is the same concept for mobility."

Drivers on the platform can become co-owners by purchasing a share worth Rs 500, Shah said, adding that seats on Bharat Taxi's board of directors would be reserved for driver representatives as membership grows. "When the board makes a policy against the drivers, your representative will stand up and ask -- how can you do this to our company?" he said.

Shah said Bharat Taxi aimed to enroll 15 crore drivers within two years and expand to every city with a municipal corporation within three years. The platform is currently operational in Delhi-NCR and Rajkot. He acknowledged that the profit-sharing model would take up to three years to fully activate, asking drivers to remain patient during the establishment phase.

"Like a child who we raise for 30-40 years and who then takes care of us, you have to be patient for the first three years," he said.

Shah announced that a dedicated 'Saarathi Didi' feature would be introduced in the Bharat Taxi app, allowing women passengers travelling alone to prioritise female drivers for their rides. The announcement came in response to Neelam Sharma, a single mother from Bihar who had taken up cab driving after her husband died of cancer and whose account had been suspended without notice by a previous aggregator.

"Women who travel alone will give priority to Saarathi Didi," Shah said. "Even if brothers earn a little less from this, it is our collective responsibility."

Shah said Bharat Taxi would establish a three-channel grievance system for drivers comprising online, physical and call centre modes, addressing longstanding complaints that existing platforms offered support only to passengers.

"Even if a driver does not know how to complain online, they can call and register their complaint. It will be automatically recorded," he said.

All policy changes on the platform will be communicated to drivers at least one week in advance via app notifications, Shah added.

Shah urged all drivers associated with the platform to stop referring to themselves as drivers and instead adopt the term 'Saarathi', citing Lord Krishna's role as Arjun's charioteer in the Mahabharata. Lord Krishna drove Arjun's chariot and fought the whole war. Arjun touched his feet after the war.