Rapido food delivery pilot.

Rapido is officially piloting a new food delivery service in Bengaluru—as soon as early July—under its new platform, Ownly, targeting a launch within the next week. The company is partnering with major quick-service chains like McDonald’s, KFC, Pizza Hut, and dense cloud kitchens to ensure high delivery volume over short distances (up to 5 km) . Their strategy includes a disruptive pricing structure: low flat commissions (8–15%) and fixed delivery fees (₹25 for orders under ₹400, ₹50 for orders above) plus possible restaurant subscription fees—significantly undercutting Swiggy and Zomato’s 16–30% commission models . The pilot leverages Rapido’s existing network of around 3–4 million riders to utilize idle capacity—minimizing capex .

Analysts and brokerages, including Bernstein and several brokerage houses, expect Rapido’s entry to have limited short-term impact on Zomato and Swiggy, citing entrenched market duopoly, operational complexity, and the challenge of maintaining excellent customer experience . Meanwhile, Swiggy’s CEO has publicly recognized Rapido as a new competitor, affirming that Swiggy remains “agile and paranoid” to navigate emerging threats .

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