Ride-hailing platform Rapido has rolled out its food delivery service, Ownly, across the entire city of Bengaluru after completing a pilot in select neighbourhoods, and is now preparing for expansion into additional metro and emerging urban markets.
The pilot, which began in Koramangala, HSR Layout and BTM Layout in mid-August, has transitioned into a full operational launch citywide. Rapido executives said a marketing push to build consumer awareness in Bengaluru will follow shortly.
Speaking at a National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) townhall, Vivek Vashishta, head of new initiatives at Rapido, indicated that the company intends to scale beyond a single market. While expansion across Rapido’s wider 600-city network will take time, tier-1 cities and select tier-2 and tier-3 locations are already part of the roadmap.
Shift in restaurant pricing model
Ownly has also revised its commercial structure after feedback from restaurant partners during the pilot phase. Earlier, restaurants were required to bear a significant portion of delivery costs under a tiered fee system, alongside packaging expenses and menu price parity with offline outlets—factors that drew criticism amid modest user adoption.
Under the new approach, restaurants will not pay commissions, subscription charges, marketing fees or delivery costs. Instead, customers will bear delivery charges calculated on a per-kilometer basis. During the pilot phase, delivery fees had been waived for users.
Industry representatives described the change as an effort to “unbundle” costs typically embedded in aggregator pricing, where commissions, advertising and logistics are often passed on indirectly to consumers.
Revenue strategy and operations
Rapido acknowledged that Ownly is unlikely to generate profits in its early stages. The platform plans to eventually earn a small margin on delivery fees while focusing on scaling order volumes. The company is also positioning the service without discount-led promotions, aiming to shift competition toward food quality and pricing set by restaurants.
Operationally, Ownly will use a dual-fleet system comprising a dedicated food delivery fleet and Rapido’s broader rider network, with trained riders prioritized for order handling. The platform has integrated with multiple restaurant POS systems and said it will not charge for visibility or access to customer data, while assuming responsibility for delivery-related issues.
With the Bengaluru rollout complete and a new pricing framework in place, Rapido’s Ownly is set to test whether a low-commission, restaurant-friendly model can reshape competition in India’s rapidly evolving food delivery market.