Rapido’s Ownly Expands Food Delivery Across Bengaluru

Rapido’s food delivery platform Ownly has officially expanded beyond its pilot neighbourhoods in Bengaluru and is now operational across the entire city. The company also confirmed that it is actively preparing to launch the service in other metro markets, signalling a broader national ambition.

The update was shared during a townhall hosted by the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) on Thursday, where Rapido leadership outlined Ownly’s rollout plans, pricing strategy, and long-term vision for the platform.

From Pilot Neighbourhoods to Pan-Bengaluru Rollout

Citywide Launch After August Pilot

Speaking at the townhall, Vivek Vashishta, head of new initiatives at Rapido, told restaurant partners that Ownly has moved beyond its pilot phase, which had been running in Koramangala, HSR Layout and BTM Layout since mid-August.

He confirmed that the platform is now operationally live across the whole of Bengaluru and will soon begin a dedicated marketing push to accelerate customer acquisition.

“You’re going to be seeing, especially across Bangalore, Ownly on your phones, Ownly splashed across your city as a brand,” Vashishta said.

Expansion Beyond Bengaluru Is a Priority

Multi-City Growth Strategy Taking Shape

On the subject of geographic expansion, Vashishta made it clear that staying limited to one city is not an option for the platform.

“From Pilot to Pan-City
People know that they can isolate us in this one city — that we don’t really mean business,” he said.

While acknowledging that scaling across Rapido’s 600-city network will take time, Vashishta said that tier-1 cities and select tier-2 and tier-3 cities are “very definitely in the plan.”

Shift in Commercial Model for Restaurants

Earlier Delivery Fee Structure Faced Resistance

The townhall also marked a significant reset in Ownly’s commercial approach toward restaurant partners. During the pilot phase, Ownly had followed a three-tier delivery fee structure, where restaurants bore a large part of the delivery cost:

• Rs 59 for orders above Rs 400

• Rs 29.50 for orders between Rs 100 and Rs 400

• A shared cost for orders below Rs 100

As reported earlier by FE, this structure created friction, with restaurants raising concerns about absorbing Rs 5–10 per order in packaging costs, matching offline menu prices, and facing limited user adoption during the pilot.

Zero Charges for Restaurants Under New Model

Customers to Bear Delivery Cost

Ownly has now transitioned to a radically different model where restaurants are not charged at all.

“There are absolutely no charges to restaurants. There are no commissions, there are no marketing fees, there are no subscription fees,” Vashishta said.

Under the revised approach, customers will bear the full delivery cost through a per-kilometre fee. Notably, during the pilot phase, the delivery fee was waived off for customers.

Industry Perspective: Unbundling the Cost Structure

NRAI Calls It a Structural Shift

Pranav M Rungta, vice-president of NRAI, described Ownly’s move as an unbundling of costs that have traditionally been hidden within food delivery pricing.

“What’s been happening in the industry so far is we’ve been sort of bundling all our costs and putting that on to the customer. When you set a price which is listed on your delivery platforms, this price has included the cost of commission which you are paying to the current aggregators, and you have bundled in the cost of advertisement and visibility and everything else,” Rungta said.

He urged restaurants to rethink pricing structures for the model to succeed.

How Ownly Plans to Make Money

No Revenue in Early Phase

On monetisation, Vashishta was transparent about Ownly’s short-term outlook.

“In the beginning, we’re not going to be earning money.”

He explained that the platform plans to eventually earn through a small margin added to the delivery cost, focusing on scale rather than high per-order earnings.

“Instead of saying that we’ll take Rs 10 from 100 customers, we are asking the question — can we take Rs 2 from 1,000 customers,” he said.

No Discounts, Focus on Price and Product

A Contrarian E-Commerce Approach

Vashishta also committed to building Ownly as a platform without discounts, placing the responsibility of value entirely on restaurants’ pricing and product quality.

“Discounts are something that, unfortunately, customers have gotten used to in the last 20-25 years online. We want to find an alternate path. It goes against everything I have been taught in my e-commerce career, but we want to take this step,” he said.

Operations, Fleet and Technology Stack

Dedicated Food Delivery Fleet

Operationally, Ownly will rely on two rider fleets:

• A dedicated food delivery fleet, trained specifically for handling food orders

• The broader Rapido rider network for additional capacity

Initially, the platform will prioritise the dedicated fleet to ensure order quality.

Vashishta also confirmed that Ownly has completed POS integrations with platforms such as Urban Piper and Rista, among others.

Additionally, restaurants will not be charged for visibility or access to customer data, and Ownly will bear liability for delivery mishaps, further differentiating its offering from incumbent aggregators.

The Road Ahead

With a pan-Bengaluru launch complete and multi-city expansion firmly on the roadmap, Ownly represents Rapido’s most ambitious bet yet beyond mobility. Its zero-commission model, customer-paid delivery fees, and no-discount philosophy position it as a sharp alternative in India’s crowded food delivery market.