Bharat Taxi Collaborates with West Bengal Government to Enhance Yatri Sathi Mobility Services, ETAuto

Bharat Taxi on Monday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Department of Information Technology and Electronics (DITE), Government of West Bengal, to support the expansion, operations and driver welfare initiatives of the state’s ride-hailing platform, Yatri Sathi.Under the agreement, Bharat Taxi, operated by cooperative mobility organisation STCL, will serve as DITE’s strategic growth and welfare partner for Yatri Sathi, helping strengthen operations, onboard drivers, expand services and improve customer acquisition across West Bengal.

The partnership will also focus on technology interoperability, allowing Yatri Sathi rides to be made available through the Bharat Taxi platform, subject to mutual agreement.

As part of the collaboration, STCL will deploy dedicated marketing and operations personnel to support the platform’s expansion while jointly working with DITE on branding, customer acquisition and platform growth initiatives.

The MoU also extends cooperative membership opportunities to eligible Yatri Sathi drivers, enabling them to access welfare benefits offered by Bharat Taxi, including insurance, financial assistance and training programmes.

Despite the partnership, ownership of the Yatri Sathi platform, including its application, data, branding and intellectual property, will remain with the West Bengal government. DITE’s existing technology agreement with Moving Tech Innovations (MTI) will continue until its scheduled expiry in 2028.

The collaboration will be implemented in two phases

During the first phase, running until 2028, Yatri Sathi will continue to operate under DITE’s control while both organisations finalise a co-branding framework, execute joint marketing initiatives and enable interoperability between the two platforms. Revenue management will continue to remain with DITE during this period.

The second phase, beginning after the expiry of MTI’s technology agreement, will involve negotiations on STCL’s enhanced operational role, technology responsibilities, commercial terms and revenue-sharing arrangements.

A Joint Steering Committee comprising representatives from both organisations will oversee the implementation of the partnership and monitor its progress.