Inconsistencies and Contradictions

The February 2026 launch of Bharat Taxi marks an unusual development in India's ride-hailing market . Unlike Uber , Ola , or Rapido —owned by private entities—Bharat Taxi is a driver-owned cooperative with visible government backing. If the government's stated ambitions materialize, this represents more than simply adding competition. It signals whose power shapes how urban mobility platforms organize themselves and distribute surplus. This article examines what Bharat Taxi's emergence tells us about driver bargaining power in India's ride-hailing market—how it never disappeared, how it reasserted itself, and where it might lead. Link Drivers Were Never Fully Atomized Standard accounts of platform capitalism emphasize how apps atomize workers—turning them into isolated contractors subject to algorithmic control. In India's ride-hailing sector, this story is incomplete. Auto-rickshaw and taxi drivers have always multi-homed across multiple apps, retained t...

 AC local ticker rates have been slashed. Economic argument for right type of price decrease is as follows. Prices are to be lowered when it is expected that it will lead to higher demand (since now prices are cheaper than earlier) which leads to considerable rise in revenue but not so much rise in costs. In economic jargon, demand should be elastic (so as it rises when prices are cut) while costs are increasing returns to scale (a lumpsum fixed cost up to certain level). Once we consider this, we can see why Railways lowered the prices of AC locals. The intuition of price reduction is understandable. Running an AC local costs certain fixed amount to the railway unless air-conditioning inside the train is precisely adjusted as per the number of passengers. (Though I am not sure whether that will have huge implication on cost.) Adding few more extra passengers will not change the cost much (some extra wear and tear is to be added to the cost, but that is not very significant rise ...

The farm laws have been repealed. Government's decision to repeal hints that accusations of agitators about farm laws are intended to end the MSP regime and hurt the big farmers might have been true. And there is no surprise. The farm laws were about easing the fiscal burden government faced due to procurement based on MSP. If government is not planning to ditch this route, then why it was not ready to make a law for using it? - The repeal seems to vindicate the doubt. Government failed to communicate the potential trajectory of changes the laws could have generated. One reason why government would have chosen not to reveal it is because it might have revealed some unpleasant possibilities, like some big businesses benefiting or section of farmers losing out and large section of farmers having no gain – no loss from it. But there is another reason why government chose to not communicate. It did not because it is extremely paternalistic towards Indians. The approach of Modi govern...

  Kiran Limaye, Himank Kavathekar -----------             On 8 November 2020, it will be four years to an announcement of policy of withdrawal and reissuance of high denomination currency notes, or what we popularly call ‘demonetization’. One of the stated objectives of the policy was encouraging the use of non-cash payment modes. It is generally considered that non-cash payment modes, debit and credit cards, mobile based payment mechanisms like UPI and prepaid payment instruments like mobile wallets are better than cash, for individual as well as for a society. These non-cash alternatives have less risk of theft and both ends of transactions are traced unlike cash which can be used without trace. But these non-cash modes require higher consumer involvement (for example, knowing pins and maintaining their secrecy and ability to operate smartphone beyond routine call receipt and dial) which are not acquired by section of popul...

             The key takeaway from PM's speech on 31st December 2016 was except the scheme declared for pregnant mothers, all other schemes are interest rate subsidies.               The housing scheme was kind of anticipated. PM has talked first about his vision of 'Housing for all by 2022' in his Madison square address. Then he reiterated the objective last month in one of his speeches. In today's speech, first definite measures have been announced towards achieving this objective. I think it's laudable, though I am slightly skeptical about wrong set of beneficiaries using the scheme and possible domino effects of using credit as main channel of boosting the growth.               One wonders how exactly government is going balance the trick of maintaining government deficit vis-a-vis bearing burden of all subsidies. I think the gap between value of old invalid notes a...

पुढे दिलेल्या लिंक्स आणि थोडेसे विश्लेषण, त्यांत आलेली अनेक मते, शक्यता ह्यांच्यातून काही हायपोथेसिस मिळतील अशा दृष्टीने मी त्यांच्याकडे बघतो. ठाम काही बोलण्यासाठी लागणारा डेटा आणि clarity इतक्या पटकन येणार नाही (मला तरी) असं मला वाटतं. १.      प्रत्यक्षात छापलेले जुने रद्द चलन ( किंमत सुमारे १४ ट्रिलीयन रुपये) आणि चलनबदलीच्या कालावधीत बँकात जमा होणारे जुने रद्द चलन ह्यांच्यात्तील फरक हा रिझर्व्ह बँकेला फायदा ठरेल. कायद्याने तो सरकारला उपलब्ध होईल. सरकार त्याचा वापर करू शकते. अनेक निरीक्षकांच्या मते एन.पी.ए.च्या समस्येने ग्रासलेल्या बँकांना re-capitalize करायला हा फायदा वापरता येईल. रिझर्व्ह बँकेचे माजी गव्हर्नर डी. सुब्बाराव ह्यांनी असे करणे चुकीचे ठरेल असं म्हटलं आहे . (त्याच वक्तव्यात चलनबदलीचे फायदे हे तोट्याहून अधिक आहेत असेही त्यांनी म्हटले आहे.) हा फरक कशामुळे निर्माण होईल? ह्याचे लोकप्रिय उत्तर आहे कि काळ्या पैशामुळे. बेहिशोबी चलन हे बँकात बदलायला आणले जाणार नाही किंवा आणणे अशक्य असेल आणि त्यामुळे त्याची किंमत विरून जाईल. सुमारे ३ ट्रिलीयन रुपये एवढ्य...