In a bold strategic pivot, Rapido, the startup widely known for its bike-taxi and mobility services, has jumped headfirst into India’s competitive food delivery space. With Zomato and Swiggy firmly controlling over 95% of the market, Rapido’s move comes with ambition, aggression, and a disruptive pricing model. The company has launched pilot operations in Bengaluru and plans to roll out more extensively in the coming months.
What sets Rapido apart is its flat-fee commission model. While Zomato and Swiggy typically charge restaurants between 18% to 30% per order, Rapido is offering a simplified slab: ₹25 for orders below ₹400 and ₹50 for orders above ₹400. This translates into a significantly lower commission rate of 8% to 15%, making it particularly attractive to small restaurants, cloud kitchens, and budget eateries that often struggle with high delivery platform costs.
Brokerage firms and market analysts have welcomed Rapido’s bold entry but caution that taking on industry giants won’t be easy. According to analysts from Bernstein and Kotak, capturing even a small share of India’s food delivery market – estimated at over ₹38,000 crore will require Rapido to invest heavily in tech, logistics, and customer acquisition. Experts believe a $30–40 million spend may be required just to gain traction.
Rapido already operates in over 100 cities through its bike taxi services, and the company is planning to leverage its existing fleet for food delivery. However, analysts point out that multi-tasking delivery riders may impact delivery consistency and time-bound performance, which are crucial in the food delivery space. Dedicated logistics infrastructure and smart routing algorithms will be essential if Rapido wants to offer a seamless customer experience.
The new model may be particularly effective in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities, where Zomato and Swiggy have not fully optimized their delivery reach and where cost-sensitive markets might welcome a cheaper and locally integrated alternative. Rapido’s promise of higher earnings for restaurant partners and simpler pricing may attract smaller food vendors who previously stayed away from food aggregators due to high costs.
Interestingly, this is not the first time a tech company has attempted to disrupt the food delivery space. Amazon Food quietly exited the Indian market after a brief presence, and Ola’s earlier food delivery experiment, Foodpanda, also failed to make a dent. Even the government-backed ONDC network is still struggling with scale, customer experience, and brand recognition. The key difference with Rapido could lie in its existing hyperlocal operations and low-cost fleet.
Despite the odds, early signs suggest there’s interest. Restaurants are reportedly signing up in decent numbers during the Bengaluru trial phase, drawn by the potential to retain more of their margins. Whether Rapido can convert this early curiosity into sustained loyalty and user adoption is the bigger question.
As India’s online food delivery battle enters a new phase, Rapido’s move has definitely stirred the pot. If it can balance affordability, reliability, and scale, it could become the first serious challenger to Zomato and Swiggy’s dominance in years.
For now, the food delivery duopoly remains intact – but a new contender has entered the ring, and the fight is just beginning.
