Rapido set to launch food delivery service next week

Rapido is set to launch its food delivery service, Ownly, in Bengaluru within the next week. The trial will begin in Koramangala, HSR, and Sarjapur, with plans to expand to ten cities by July 2026.

The company aims to attract restaurants by offering lower commissions of 8-15%, compared to the 16-30% charged by Zomato and Swiggy.

Rapido is also negotiating a memorandum of understanding with restaurant associations before the launch.

Restaurants have asked for access to customer data, a demand previously denied by Zomato and Swiggy. In return, Rapido wants them to maintain competitive pricing and limit packaging fees.

The company will also promote a menu with items under 150 rupee (US$0.75).

🔗 Source: The Economic Times

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ Strategic response to restaurant-platform tensions over commissions and data

Rapido’s approach directly addresses longstanding tensions between restaurants and food delivery platforms that have been brewing for years.

In 2019, many Indian restaurants staged a mass “logout” protest against Zomato and Swiggy over commission rates reaching up to 30%, which significantly cut into their already thin profit margins 1.

By offering commissions in the 8-15% range (versus the incumbent 16-30%), Rapido is targeting a documented pain point while its willingness to share customer data addresses another major grievance restaurants have raised with existing platforms.

The timing is strategic, as restaurants have grown increasingly vocal about wanting to be treated as stakeholders rather than just vendors, with one restaurateur explicitly noting, “With Rapido, the aim is that restaurants are considered to be key stakeholders right from day one.”

This strategy reflects successful market entry patterns where new entrants identify specific friction points between existing players and their suppliers or customers to create differentiated positioning.

2️⃣ Food delivery startups face high operational complexity and failure rates

Rapido’s measured approach to expansion reflects an understanding of the operational pitfalls that have plagued previous food delivery startups.

Foodpanda’s well-documented failure in India stemmed from fundamental operational issues including fake restaurant listings, miscommunication between customers and restaurants, and inadequate IT systems that led to widespread service failures 2.