A new ride sharing service is coming for commuters in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad. India’s first driver owned cooperative taxi service, Bharat Taxi has officially started operations in the twin cities since last week, charging fixed fares irrespective of the time of the day or the weather conditions and without surge pricing.
Rollout was carried out in a phased manner, initial trials in Mumbai from May 25, in Pune from June 26 and finally with the Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis launching the service at NMIO on July 23. The platform, Bharat Taxi Pune city head Mohit Mitra, is now ready for bookings for commuters in and around Pune.The trial has now been completed and people can book taxis on the platform in and around Pune.
The uniqueness of Bharat Taxi over Ola, Uber and Rapido?
Approximately 35,000 drivers have been onboarded on a zero commission model with fares negotiated with drivers and based on RTO standards.
Unlike other apps, Bharat Taxi’s fares remain constant throughout the day, except for the morning and evening peak hours when they increase by 10 per cent.
The firm has also kept the ceiling and floor prices same — for example, the RTO base price of Rs 25/km for sedans as opposed to Rs 18–32.50/km usually.The company has also maintained the same ceiling and floor prices, Mitra told IE, for example, the RTO base price of Rs 25/km for sedans, as opposed to Rs 18–32.50/km usually.
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What’s Next — Airports And Intercity Routes?
Bharat Taxi is negotiating with airport officials to have a pick-up deposit point, which will start soon from the Aeromall. It has also introduced an intercity service between Pune and Mumbai, with pricing at Rs 21/km for hatchbacks, Rs 23/km for sedans and Rs 30/km for SUVs.
This service is operated by Sahakar Taxi Cooperative Ltd (STCL) in collaboration with the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) with the support from the institutions like Amul, NABARD, etc.
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