Rapido Enters Food Delivery with 'Ownly'

What if your favorite local restaurant could finally keep more of what you pay for your food order? That's exactly what Rapido is promising with its bold entry into India's competitive food delivery market.

The ride-hailing giant has just announced "Ownly," a revolutionary food delivery platform launching in Bengaluru by late June or early July. But here's where it gets interesting – Rapido isn't just adding another delivery app to the mix. They're completely reimagining how the economics work.

While traditional food delivery platforms charge restaurants hefty commission rates of 16-30%, Rapido's Ownly operates on a refreshingly different model. Restaurants pay zero commission and instead opt for a flat subscription fee once the service scales. During the pilot phase, delivery fees are fixed at just ₹25 for orders under ₹400 and ₹50 for orders above – translating to commission rates of only 8-15%.

This isn't just about numbers on a spreadsheet. Rapido has partnered with the National Restaurant Association of India, representing over 50,000 eateries, giving voice to countless small restaurant owners who've struggled under existing platform economics. The company's network of 2 million two-wheeler riders suddenly becomes a lifeline for these businesses.

Perhaps most telling is Ownly's policy requiring uniform pricing across online and offline channels – no hidden mark-ups, no surprise fees. What you see is what you pay, plus GST.

For young entrepreneurs watching this space, Rapido's move represents more than market expansion – it's a masterclass in finding opportunity within industry pain points. Sometimes the biggest disruption comes not from doing something completely new, but from doing something familiar in a fundamentally fairer way.

The question isn't whether Ownly will succeed, but whether it will force the entire industry to reconsider what "fair" really means.