Can a cooperative model fix public mobility?

EReal morning time in republic of india’s megacities, commuters tin be seen jostling for blank on overcrowded buses or haggling with auto drivers who quote fares on a whim. For most office-goers, options are limited -- stand in endless queues for a bus or open a ride-hailing app and brace for surge pricing and cancellations, or both.This daily grind captures India’s continuing urban transport crisis. Despite years of policies and plans, public transport in most cities remains inadequate and overburdened. Buses—the backbone of urban mobility—are in short supply. Metros have grown fast in some cities, but they only cover certain corridors and can’t handle last-mile trips or spread-out journeys.Into this chaos comes what many see as an unlikely challenger—Bharat Taxi, a cooperative mobility platform being billed as the “Amul model for taxis,” where drivers are shareholders rather than gig workers governed by algorithms.Run by the Delhi–based Sahakar Taxi Cooperative Limited, with Amul’s Managing Director Jayen Mehta as chairman, the initiative is backed by the Ministry of Cooperation and major institutions such as IFFCO, NAFED and GCMMF (Amul). Likely to be formally launched in January, the cooperative has an authorised share capital of ₹300 crore, with eight primary promoters committing an initial ₹80 crore— ₹10 crore each.“The idea is to benefit the two most important stakeholders. Customers get stable pricing, while drivers retain their full earnings without paying commissions. We have also ensured social security benefits such as insurance for drivers. More than 1.1 lakh drivers have already registered in Delhi-NCR and around 3,000 in Rajkot ahead of the January 1 launch,” said Ashok Thakur, chairman of NAFED and one of the promoters. “If the model succeeds, we will expand it to other cities,” he added.For drivers, who feel short-changed by what they describe as constant rule changes by aggregators, the appeal seems clear. “These platforms keep tweaking fees and disown us the moment we’re in trouble,” said Rajesh, a Delhi-based cab driver who has signed up with Bharat Taxi. “Here, I don’t mind paying a small subscription because we finally get some benefits like legal and financial help, and low-interest vehicle loans.”Experts, however, caution that Bharat Taxi must contend with several hurdles on the road to success. “Pricing is a core challenge. Dynamic surge models used by Ola and Uber tempt drivers with higher peak-hour earnings and passengers with off-peak discounts. So, commuters may cherry-pick Bharat Taxi only for stable fares during rush hours, while drivers might drift back to surge-based platforms at other times. This fragmented loyalty could hinder the cooperative’s ability to scale,” said Shreya Gadepalli, an urban mobility expert.In fact, there are already murmurs of discontent from some auto unions. “We don’t want bikes with private number plates on the app -- they hurt our livelihood,” said Rajendra Soni, general secretary of the Delhi Auto Rickshaw Sangh, adding that they are not “encouraging drivers to join the new platform”.Failed alternativesIn fact, some of the scepticism is rooted in recent history. Over the past few years, tensions between ride-hailing platforms and driver unions have led to driver-led alternatives with mixed results.In Bengaluru, for example, the Auto Rickshaw Drivers’ Union ( ARDU) launched Namma Yatri in November 2022 on the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) network. It took off quickly, enrolling thousands of drivers and earning praise as a zero-commission success. But by late 2023, the union walked away, alleging that control had shifted away from drivers.Soon after, the union launched Metro Mitra, an app focused on Metro station connectivity, developed with the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL). It offered government-set fares ( ₹30 for the first 2 km, ₹15/km after, plus a ₹10 app fee) and aimed to restore confidence in meter-based rides. But Metro Mitra has struggled to take off.“Drivers did not like having to wait long at stations with low demand, while passengers wanted citywide flexibility. It didn’t work for either side,” said Rudra Murthy, general secretary of the Autorickshaw Drivers Union (ARDU).Most such driver-led efforts across the country have struggled due to limited capital, weak governance and a lack of big institutional backing. That is where ,experts said, Bharat Taxi’s cooperative scale and deep-pocketed institutional support could make the difference.Cities desperately need efficient and affordable alternatives. The number of buses per person remains among the lowest globally; even Mumbai and Delhi fall short of recommended fleets. Most state transport bodies are in the red, hampered by political fare freezes, staff shortages, and ageing vehicles. No wonder, then, that app-based cabs have stepped in as a de facto public transport system in most major cities in India.Amit Bhatt, India director, the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), said Bharat Taxi must prioritise solid technology, reliability, and service quality—including clean cars, assured rides, and zero cancellations. “That’s exactly how BluSmart won loyal users before its financial struggles due to unsustainable scaling and high capital burn.”A history of transport cooperatives in IndiaIn India, urban bus services are currently largely monopolised by State Road Transport Undertakings (SRTUs). But this has not always been the case. The country has a long history of transport cooperatives.The roots of the cooperative movement go back to the Cooperative Societies Act of 1904, initially meant for credit societies, and its expansion in 1912 to allow non-credit cooperatives. After Independence, transport cooperatives were actively promoted by the government as instruments for rural connectivity and employment generation.Between the 1950s and 1970s, several small transport cooperatives emerged across states such as Kerala, Karnataka and West Bengal. Mostly, formed by ex-servicemen and unemployed youth, these societies operated bus services on rural and semi-urban routes that SRTUs found financially unviable. During the nationalisation wave of the 1970s, however, most city-level bus cooperatives were absorbed into state-run corporations, cementing public control over urban transport.One notable exception that survives is the “Koppa model.” The Transport Co-operative Society of Koppa in Karnataka became a benchmark for community-owned bus services in hilly areas. Despite financial stress in recent years, it is one of the few examples of a cooperative operating a full fleet of stage-carriage buses on fixed routes.Kerala presents another example. While the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation is a government entity, its city bus services have often been financially supported by the Kerala State Transport Workers’ Co-operative Society (KSTWCS). In cities like Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi, several AC and electric buses were purchased through loans provided by the cooperative.Elsewhere, New India Travel Co-operative Limited runs point-to-point AC bus services across Kerala, Karnataka and Puducherry, while the Mandi Suket Transport Cooperative Society in Himachal Pradesh serves several rural routes.“If our Bharat Taxi model succeeds, it could lead to a bigger role for new and the existing transport cooperatives across the country, ” says Thakur.In fact, globally, cooperatives run bus services in several cities.In France, for example, worker cooperatives known as Sociétés Coopératives et Participatives (SCOPs)—enterprises owned and governed by their employees—operate bus services in several cities under municipal contracts. Cooperatives such as TIV and L’Oiseau Bleu run scheduled services while city governments retain control over routes, fares, and performance standards.A similar philosophy drives transport governance in Bologna, Italy, where cooperatives operate within a broader “co-city” framework. Municipalities, cooperative members and citizens share responsibility for managing services, treating mobility as part of the social economy rather than merely physical infrastructure. In Porto Alegre, Brazil, driver collectives are formally integrated into regulated para-transit systems.O P Agarwal, a former IAS officer and transport expert, believes regulatory change is key to promoting similar models in India. “The Motor Vehicles Act needs amendments to relax stage-carriage licensing. State corporations should stop owning buses and focus on governance and oversight. It will boost efficiency and reduce costs,” said Agarwal, who was also the lead author of the National Urban Transport Policy 2006.Bhatt said that the Delhi government’s recent decision to bring all bus operations under the Delhi Transport Corporation -- by integrating the DIMTS cluster fleet -- creates an opportunity to rethink how urban public transport is governed.“ A cooperative model could be highly effective in transitioning to electric buses. Big cooperatives, such as Amul and others that have backed Bharat Taxi, can ensure long-term sustainability, making them ideal for managing high-capex assets like e-buses while ensuring equitable, low-emission mobility,” Bhatt says. “ Besides, collective ownership creates accountability and pride in service, and shared profits incentivise reliable operations.”Gadepalli agreed. “Let cooperatives own and operate buses while the government handles routes and fares. In most cities, private players just fight state operators for passengers. Cooperatives align interests—since members are both workers and owners—resulting in cheaper, more dependable services, including para-transit,” she said.