Ownly Hyderabad has gone live as Rapido’s second food-delivery market, offering restaurants a zero-commission model while using Rapido Captains to deliver orders across the city. The standalone platform was launched on Saturday after being introduced as a pilot in Bengaluru in March this year.
According to a press release from Ownly, restaurants will not be charged a commission on orders placed through the app. Customers will pay the listed price of the food and a delivery fee, with no additional charges, the company said.
The platform has entered Hyderabad citing the city’s established food culture, including its biryani, Irani cafes and late-night food spots. Ownly is available as a standalone application on iOS and Android and can also be accessed through the Rapido app.
Rapido said its Captain community will be central to the Hyderabad operation. Captains who are part of the company’s mobility network will also undertake food deliveries through Ownly, creating an additional earning opportunity for them, according to the company.
The launch connects food ordering with an existing urban delivery network rather than creating a separate workforce for the service. For restaurants, the company is presenting the zero-commission structure as a way to retain the full value of each order. For customers, it said the model would limit additional charges to the food price and delivery fee.
“Our model is simple: restaurants keep what they earn, customers pay only for their food and delivery, and nobody pays for anything in between,” Aravind Sanka, Co-Founder of Rapido and Ownly, said in the company’s statement. He described Hyderabad as a natural next market after Bengaluru.
To mark the launch, Ownly hosted a biryani party for Rapido Captains in Hyderabad. Telugu actor Nani attended the event and interacted with Captains from across the city. The company has not provided further operational details in the supplied announcement about the number of restaurants onboarded, delivery coverage areas or order volumes.
