Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday launched Bharat Taxi, India's first driver-owned ride-hailing platform, in Gujarat. The service has started operations in 14 major cities across the state. The government plans to expand it across the whole of Gujarat within the next month.

Shah launched the platform at a public event and called it an important milestone for India's mobility sector. He said the demand for taxi services has increased with the country's economic growth. More people now depend on taxis for daily travel, leading to the rapid expansion of taxi services across different parts of the country.

Speaking at the event, Shah said, "Today is a very big day in the field of mobility in India. Because as India has developed, the need for taxis has become common. The need for taxis has reached every home. And in a way, the expansion of taxis has also happened across a very large area."

Shah said the idea for Bharat Taxi came after several concerns emerged in the private taxi sector. According to him, both passengers and taxi drivers approached him with complaints and requested solutions to the problems they were facing. The government first considered introducing a new law to address these issues. However, it was later decided that a cooperative model could provide a more practical and long-term solution.

Explaining the decision, Shah said, "Various problems were emerging in the taxi services of the private sector. The public and drivers met me with the hope of resolving their issues. Initially, the idea came that the government should enact a new law, but merely a law does not provide a hundred per cent solution to any problem."

He further said that the government then explored the idea of creating a taxi service based on the cooperative model. The aim was to reduce the scope of exploitation in the business and give drivers greater ownership and benefits. Shah noted that cooperative models have already delivered strong results in several sectors across the country. He expressed confidence that the same approach could also improve the taxi industry.

Continuing his address, Shah said, "After that, the thought arose that if a taxi service were started on the cooperative model, the exploitation-based business would automatically begin to end. Through cooperation, we have achieved remarkable success in many sectors, so this very model can become a meaningful and effective solution in the taxi sector as well."

The newly launched Bharat Taxi platform follows a driver-owned cooperative model instead of the conventional private business structure. The initiative aims to address the concerns raised by both drivers and commuters while creating a more balanced and fair system for taxi services. The government expects the platform to strengthen the mobility sector and improve the overall experience for passengers and drivers alike.

With its launch in 14 major cities, Bharat Taxi marks the beginning of a new approach to ride-hailing services in India. The Gujarat government now plans to extend the service across the state within a month, making it accessible to a larger number of commuters and drivers.