Namma Yatri Model for Digital Financial Inclusion in India

The Indian transport system is the cornerstone of the effective functioning of the economy and society. It operates at the intersection of a large formal infrastructure and an expansive informal labour economy. With millions of auto-rickshaw drivers, cab operators, truck drivers, and delivery personnel, form chains of urban and rural mobility for people. Historically, these workers have been excluded from stable incomes, social security and occupation safety. The rapid proliferation of digital aggregator platforms has contributed to India’s burgeoning consumer economy, as they constitute the bulk of India’s gig economy. However, their precarity has increased with growing reliance on algorithm-driven pricing systems, precarious contracts, and irregular payments. With large transnational platforms charging high commission fees, growing algorithmic control over work allocation, and the use of work contracts as partnerships that restrict gig workers’ access to employment-based social security and fair pay. As a result, many drivers report declining earnings, unpredictable work hours, a lack of social security, and poor health conditions.

In response to structural inequalities and exploitation, the Namma Yatri presents a path-breaking alternative based on the principles of worker-centric corporatism and participation, digital inclusion, and employment-based social security for gig workers.  Namma Yatri is an open-source, zero-commission ride-hailing platform that empowers drivers to retain full earnings, negotiate fares transparently, and participate in platform governance. It exemplifies a worker’s rights-based approach to digital infrastructure, where technology is designed to serve public interest rather than corporate monopolies.

In 2021, the Directorate for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) of the Government of India established the private, non-profit Section 8 corporation, Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), to democratize e-commerce and curb monopolistic practices.  ONDC is a promising platform to accelerate the growth of small to medium-scale startups and drive a more inclusive digital economy by fostering innovation and democratizing access to digital markets.  The idea is to bring the benefits of digital commerce to start-ups and merchants, creating greater inclusivity.  With greater benefits to start-ups in terms of reducing their operational costs, improving their value chains through technological improvements, and expanding their customer base through more efficient digital marketing and sales strategies.  With most Indian entrepreneurs having limited resources to apply high-end technological innovations, this was an effort to deepen the Indian digital economy through an open-source, decentralised network, improve data interoperability, and facilitate innovation.

In 2022, Namma Yatri launched in Bengaluru, a driver-led ride-hailing platform initiative based on the principles of open digital platform infrastructure.  Unlike Uber, Ola, and Namma Yatri, which marked a fresh approach to aligning technology policy and social policy through their integration with the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC).  With the direct link between drivers and consumers, it eliminates monopolistic gatekeeping and promotes decentralized commerce.  Namma Yatri shows a pathway to deepen the intersections between inclusive technological policy, financial inclusion, participatory corporate governance, labour rights, and social policy. The subscription fee, under Namma Yatri’s zero-commission model, enhances drivers’ income and financial stability. Direct peer-to-peer transactions between drivers and riders without intermediaries increase transparency and fairness, promote inclusion within the digital economy, lower barriers for new entrants and smaller players, and lead to a more equitable mobility ecosystem. It also increased driver participation and ownership.  The open framework model enhances trust, transparency, and adoption of digital financial services among marginalized urban transport workers.  Namma Yatri model has potential for the Interledger Protocol and Open Payments Standard. 

While Namma Yatri holds significant promise as a model for technological inclusion, several challenges remain, particularly around digital and social policy awareness, literacy, and action. Despite its cooperativist ethos, the platform operates in a context of poor digital literacy among drivers and limited awareness of formal financial services, social security schemes, and labour rights. Inclusive technology alone does not guarantee systemic inclusion; it must be supported by robust institutional linkages that connect drivers to formal entitlements and protections.  The introduction of the “advance tip” feature, which allows riders to pay extra upfront to secure rides, raises ethical concerns about fair pricing and consumer rights. This mechanism risks undermining the platform’s commitment to equitable service delivery, especially during peak hours when driver availability becomes unreliable.  Moreover, while Namma Yatri’s focus on Bengaluru’s auto-rickshaw sector has yielded localized success, its replicability and scalability across other Indian cities remain to be tested. Each urban context presents unique challenges in terms of infrastructure, governance, and commuter behavior.

The platform has undertaken steps for multimodal integration by aligning auto-rickshaw and cab services along with the Bengaluru Metro Network. This feature enables commuters to plan journeys across different transit modes. However, the broader potential to integrate with environmentally friendly, traffic-reducing systems, such as metro rail and electric buses, requires further exploration and strategic partnerships.  As mass transit systems expand across Indian cities, app-based mobility platforms like Namma Yatri have an opportunity to align with these networks and contribute to solutions for urban traffic congestion, climate resilience, and inclusive design. This includes building disability-friendly systems, child- and gender-sensitive safety features, and systems responsive to diverse commuter needs.

Namma Yatri has the potential to address Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), SDG 1: No Poverty; SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth; SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities; SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities; SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals. It offers a potential pathway to integrate technological and social policies in the field of financial inclusion and the expansion of social security for gig workers. It presents the possibility of ethical mass-transport designs, commercial viability, and profit-sharing through participatory governance with important stakeholders, including drivers and consumers.

Originally launched in collaboration with the Auto Rickshaw Drivers Union in Bengaluru, Namma Yatri aimed to include drivers in decision-making. However, there have been rifts between the drivers’ union and the app’s creators, with the former alleging that they were excluded from critical decisions, and their recommendations were ignored. A scenario like this leads to a lack of meaningful participation and undermines drivers’ ability to influence the platform’s policies that directly affect their earnings and working conditions. Namma Yatri drivers faced issues, including the absence of organised dispute-resolution mechanisms to address their grievances. This reflects broader systemic exclusion where informal workers lack institutional support and protection, reinforcing their vulnerability. In recent times, the introduction of subscription fees has further undermined drivers’ involvement in decision-making.  As most drivers and gig workers come from marginalised socio-economic backgrounds with limited digital literacy and access, they are excluded from decision-making.  The role of unions and collective bargaining in ensuring transparent payments is not clearly defined.

Namma Yatri was an approach to improve the digital inclusion of gig workers, who are at risk of algorithmic governance. It offers a pathway to improve employment-based social security in India, better align with digital skills enhancement, literacy, and access to grassroots technology to break cycles of poverty and exploitation in India’s predominantly informal economy. Better regulatory improvements on the ethical use of algorithms, direct involvement of drivers and consumers in decision-making, improved safety features for drivers and passengers, and greater inclusion of drivers in the everyday administration of the Namma Yatri could hold the key to inclusive transportation in LMICs such as India. Also, it aligns with Interledger’s free, open-source technology, which is built on the same principles to harness openness, interoperability, and universality. Namma Yatri is an Indian financial inclusion models hold potential to create a pathway for a value-based economy in which environmental costs are minimised, workers’ and consumers’ social rights are improved, and sustainable development is achieved.