Rapido launches ‘Ownly’ food delivery app in Bengaluru with ‘zero commission’ model

Ride-hailing platform Rapido has entered the food delivery market with the launch of its Ownly app in Bengaluru. The platform offers a zero-commission model for restaurants and charges customers a flat delivery fee, potentially challenging Swiggy and Zomato

Hyderabad: Ride-hailing platform Rapido has entered India’s fiercely competitive food delivery space with the launch of its new app ‘Ownly’ in Bengaluru, signalling potential competition for established platforms such as Swiggy and Zomato.

The Bengaluru launch comes soon after Swiggy exited its minority stake in Rapido. Swiggy, which earlier owned around 12 per cent in the ride-hailing startup, recently sold the entire stake for about Rs.2,400 crore to investors including Prosus and WestBridge Capital.

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Ownly’s biggest differentiator is its zero-commission model. Unlike conventional food delivery platforms that typically charge restaurants 25 to 35 per cent commission per order along with additional advertising, packaging and marketing fees, Ownly does not charge restaurants anything.

Instead, the platform collects a flat Rs.30 delivery fee from customers, allowing restaurants to retain the full value of each order. For instance, on a Rs.300 order placed via Swiggy or Zomato, a restaurant may receive roughly Rs.195 after commissions and charges. On Ownly, restaurants keep the entire Rs.300.

Rapido’s bet with Ownly is that this is a volume game. The company pulled the same move in ride-hailing, replacing Ola and Uber’s 15 to 20 per cent commission with a flat subscription for drivers, where they kept 100 per cent of fares. Rapido now does 6 million rides daily across more than 500 cities and is valued at $2.3 billion.

Industry experts say the model could strongly appeal to small and mid-sized restaurants that have long complained about high aggregator commissions. Restaurant bodies, including the National Restaurant Association of India, have often raised concerns over shrinking margins due to platform fees.

For now, Ownly has been launched only in Bengaluru after months of pilot testing. However, there is no news of the Ownly’s expansion to other markets like Hyderabad among other cities. Given Rapido’s strong presence in several cities’ bike-taxi segment and its large base of delivery riders wider roll out may be expected later this year or in early 2027, potentially intensifying competition in India’s fast-growing food delivery markets.