India’s Rapido rolls out Ownly across Bengaluru, eyes Tier-1 cities

Indian ride-hailing work Rapido has expanded its nutrient transportation platform, Ownly, crossed Bengaluru, moving beyond its aviator signifier successful prime neighbourhoods, according to The Business Line.

The rollout and the company’s adjacent steps were discussed during a municipality hallway hosted by the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI), wherever Rapido's caller initiatives caput Vivek Vashishta spoke to edifice partners.

Ownly had been piloted since mid-August successful Koramangala, HSR Layout and BTM Layout. Vashishta said the work is present operationally unrecorded crossed the full of Bengaluru.

He added that the institution volition soon statesman a selling propulsion aimed astatine lawsuit acquisition successful the city.

At the municipality hall, Rapido besides presented Ownly arsenic a zero-commission level for restaurants.

Vashishta said: “There are perfectly nary charges to restaurants. There are nary commissions, determination are nary selling fees, determination are nary subscription fees.”

Under the revised approach, transportation costs volition beryllium borne wholly by customers done a per-kilometre fee, helium said. During the pilot, transportation fees were waived for customers.

The caller exemplary marks a departure from Ownly’s earlier structure, successful which restaurants shouldered overmuch of the transportation cost. This included a Rs59 ($0.65) interest for orders supra Rs400 ($4.41) and Rs29.50 for orders betwixt Rs100 and Rs400, with costs divided for orders beneath Rs100.

NRAI vice-president Pranav Rungta said: “When you acceptable a terms which is listed connected your transportation platforms, this terms has included the outgo of committee which you are paying to the existent aggregators, and you person bundled successful the outgo of advertisement and visibility and everything else.”

On wider expansion, Vashishta indicated Ownly is looking beyond Bengaluru and is targeting different ample cities, with Tier-1 markets among the priorities, saying: “People cognize that they tin isolate america successful this 1 metropolis - that we don’t truly mean business.”

He noted that portion it would instrumentality clip to standard crossed Rapido’s 600-city network, Tier-1 cities and selected Tier-2 and Tier-3 locations are “very decidedly successful the plan”.

Vashishta besides addressed however Ownly expects to make gross implicit time: “In the beginning, we’re not going to beryllium earning money.”

He added that the level would aboriginal complaint customers a tiny borderline implicit transportation costs: “Instead of saying that we’ll instrumentality Rs10 from 100 customers, we are asking the question — tin we instrumentality Rs2 from 1,000 customers."

Vashishta besides said Ownly is being built without discounts, with restaurants expected to trust connected pricing and merchandise arsenic their main tools.