Rapido is planning to offer shuttle service, starting in Bengaluru, and will also add more options in cab service with SUV tier for large groups, Pavan Guntupalli, Co-founder of Rapido told The Hindu on the sidelines of Bharat Mobility Expo 2025 in New Delhi.
“We build solutions according to local demand and figure out how technology can make rides safer, more affordable and convenient,” Mr. Pavan said.
Currently, Rapido offers multiple ride options in several cities and parcel delivery service. For the last mile connectivity, it offers e-rickshaw near metro stations. Among the Rapido’s products, bikes are more preferred due to affordability, followed by autos, and then cabs. Delhi has been the top-most rider engagement city for it, he noted.
Mr. Pavan said the company regularly listens to their captains to know what’s working and what’s not.
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“We literally introduced a zero commission model, first in the country, to give back more to the drivers we call captains, to create even more impact in their lives and that has been our theme,” he added.
The Swiggy-backed ride hailing platform recently announced its expansion plan, starting with Karnataka, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, and Rajasthan as part of its phase-wise expansion to the next 500 cities by June 2025.
In February, the company will expand to Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand to offer affordable mobility, Mr. Pavan said.
Currently, Rapido is available across 120 cities, and is doing over 30 lakh rides daily. Drivers on the platform have earned a total of ₹15,111 crore since its inception, Mr. Pavan added.
This year, Rapido will celebrate its 10th anniversary. The platform claims to have completed nearly 1.5 billion rides, and created 80 lakh jobs across the country. Most of the Rapido rides happen in Tier 2 and 3 cities, Mr. Pavan said.
Rapido started with bikes as a first service due to its affordability factor. “When we ventured into auto and cabs, we realised that we don’t need that much money as a company to survive and make an impact,” Mr. Pavan recalled.
And that’s how Rapido came up with subscription model, which requires the auto/cab drivers to pay a single day login fee to use the platform. Subscribers won’t be charged any commission beyond that fee.
Mr. Pavan said that the auto and cab drivers are the regular returning users and that’s how Rapido makes money, upfront.
“The login fee is around ₹19 per day for auto/cabs captains. After that they are free to do as many rides as they want in that day.” But it also depends on city to city, Mr. Pavan added.
“In bike we have not yet introduced this model,”Mr. Pavan said, as majority of bike riders are casual partners like students who want to earn during their free time.
However, Rapido does charge ₹3-₹5 on each ride from regular bike riders, who use the platform often.
On safety, Mr. Pavan said that Rapido was the first company in the country to come up with a concept of ride sharing insurance.
Rapido has grown to a 600 plus team. But the company offers third-party customer support.
Published - January 20, 2025 04:25 pm IST
