Rapido sharpens focus on Delhi, partners ONDC for metro-ride integration
'Delhi is our largest market. Every day, over 8 lakh customers use Rapido in Delhi alone," said Aravind Sanka, chief executive and co-founder of Rapido. He added that a growing chunk—over 1 lakh daily riders—use the platform specifically to travel to and from metro stations.
The integration with Open Network for Digital Commerce allows Rapido users to book Delhi Metro tickets directly within the app. It aims for first-and last-mile connectivity, letting commuters use a single platform for both bike rides and metro travel.
Users can plan, book, and pay for multiple legs of a commute in one place, making it a bundled user experience.
Metro ticketing is already live via ONDC in cities like Delhi, Kochi, and Chennai, with Bangalore and multiple Mumbai metro lines set to go live soon. 'We're excited about Rapido enabling those lines as well," said Vibhor Jain, chief executive of ONDC. 'Beyond metros, we're looking at mobility holistically, and bus ticketing is a big part of that journey. I'm sure Rapido will be live with that soon too."
Rapido isn't the only company aligning with ONDC's vision of open mobility. Namma Yatri was the first to fully integrate with ONDC and introduced the SaaS model that dominant players like Uber, Ola have since adopted. In a previous interview with Mint, the company stated that it is now looking to expand into northern India while also piloting services in adjacent verticals such as ambulance and shuttle transport.
Meanwhile, Rapido is also exploring adjacent categories, like food delivery to diversify its offerings and compete with Swiggy and Zomato. However, the company has faced major regulatory setbacks in Karnataka, where a blanket ban on bike taxis disrupted one of its largest markets. This has not only impacted its user base but also dealt a blow to one of its core revenue streams.
Uber too partnered with ONDC to offer metro ticket booking, starting with Delhi Metro integration directly within its app, marking Uber's entry into public transport via the open network. The company also plans to expand metro ticketing to three more cities and explore B2B logistics services through ONDC.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Economic Times
11 hours ago
- Economic Times
Ban-battered bike-taxi riders say struggling to make both ends meet
TIL Creatives The bike-taxi ban in Karnataka has battered thousands of gig workers, as a major part of their income has disappeared. About 150,000 bike-taxi riders were estimated to be operating in Bengaluru alone before the high court-imposed ban came into effect June 16. Since then, their income has come down by half, said at least a dozen such gig workers ET spoke with. These workers on bikes typically operate across segments such as bike taxi, parcel services, food delivery and quick commerce. Since they can't carry fare-paying passengers, many of them have switched fully to delivering parcels, food and groceries, causing a glut of riders in the market and affecting the income for gig workers from these sources as well. 'I used to earn Rs 800–900 daily, but now I earn only Rs 400–500. This barely covers my bike's EMI,' said Mohammed Miraj, who has worked as a bike taxi rider in Bengaluru for the past three years. The 24-year-old rode with Uber, Rapido and other platforms to make a the ban, ride-hailing platforms Rapido and Uber renamed their bike service 'bike parcel' and 'moto courier'. This allowed gig workers like Miraj to work as couriers. He now delivers parcels for Uber, Rapido and platforms such as Borzo and Porter. 'But unlike bike taxis, parcel orders are infrequent, and the drivers must travel 10-15 km with no return rides,' he taxi operations account for 40% of India's ride-hailing volumes with Bengaluru having a 15–20% share, industry executives gig economy employed 7.7 million workers in 2020-21, according to a 2022 Niti Aayog report. The gig economy offers flexible jobs through platforms such as ride-hailing, food delivery and courier services. Flexibility factor For Mohammed Salim, a 41-year-old part-time graphic designer, the bike-taxi ban meant losing more than just used to begin his day at 7 am and work till noon, dropping officegoers in the city. He did the same in the evening between 4 pm and 8 pm, taking employees home. When not ferrying people, he would work on graphic designs at home.'The bike taxi not only gave me an opportunity to earn, it also allowed me to follow my passion in graphic design. No other job gives you that opportunity (and flexibility),' he said. 'At this age, who gives a job to a 41-year-old? This ban has completely left me without an income.' Ripple effect With bike-taxi riders moving to other platforms, the earnings of gig workers who primarily focus services such as food and grocery delivery have also taken a hit. Varun (name changed to protect identity), who hails from Bihar and works full time for Zomato in Bengaluru, said his earnings shrank from Rs 11,711 a week before the ban to Rs 5,749. 'Some days I used to earn more than Rs 2,000, but after the ban it has never happened,' he said. 'Riders have increased, which made me lose many orders. Despite me getting the notification (for an order), someone else would go pick it up.' A full-timer at Swiggy said, also on the condition of anonymity, that he used to earn far more money before the ban. Between June 2 and June 8, he worked 46 hours, earning Rs 8,743. This went down to Rs 7,334 after working 56 hours in the week after the ban, his app showed. Miraj, the bike-taxi rider who is now working as a courier, said the loss of earnings and rising costs have forced him to make difficult now earns Rs 400–500 a day. From that, he saves Rs 5,000 every month to pay his bike's EMI of Rs 5,000.'I used to give my mother Rs 500 (every day) from my savings, but today after the ban I hardly even get that much myself,' he said. 'I hope the bike taxi ban is revoked. Let them bring rules — we are ready to follow. It's not just for us; many office-going people used to take our services daily.'In its order in early April, the Karnataka high court said bike taxis could not operate without proper regulations under the Motor Vehicles emails and calls to aggregator companies including Rapido, Ola, Uber, Zomato and Swiggy did not elicit any response. Other job options DriveU, which provides professional car drivers, saw its headcount swell immediately after the ban on bike taxis came into the following fortnight, around 1,200 drivers joined its ranks against 181 in the same period of the previous month, chief executive Rahm Shastry told ET.'We've seen a substantial increase in drivers looking for new opportunities after the bike taxi ban,' said Shastry. 'As more drivers join the platform, our fulfilment rate has also gone up, ensuring better service for our customers.'Earlier, it could only be able to fulfil 65% of the demand due to a shortage of drivers, but now it does 80%, said Shastry. 'We have also raised earnings from Rs 525 to Rs 575 per trip for the driver partners,' he added. Elevate your knowledge and leadership skills at a cost cheaper than your daily tea. How Balrampur Chini, EID Parry are stirring up gains amid melting sugar stocks Are Sebi's MII evaluations driving real change or just more paperwork? Delhivery survived the Meesho curveball. Can it keep on delivering profits? Drones have become a winning strategy in war; can they be in investing? Stock Radar: Trent stock showing signs of bottoming out; stock still down over 25% from highs – what should investors do? Buy, Sell or Hold: Motilal Oswal initiates coverage on Inox Wind; Gabriel top pick for Elara Securities One simple reason to own & trade them: 5 large-caps from different sectors with upside potential of up to 46% Weekly Top Picks: These stocks scored 10 on 10 on Stock Reports Plus
Time of India
11 hours ago
- Time of India
Ban-battered bike-taxi riders say struggling to make both ends meet
The bike-taxi ban in Karnataka has battered thousands of gig workers, as a major part of their income has 150,000 bike-taxi riders were estimated to be operating in Bengaluru alone before the high court-imposed ban came into effect June 16 . Since then, their income has come down by half, said at least a dozen such gig workers ET spoke workers on bikes typically operate across segments such as bike taxi, parcel services, food delivery and quick commerce. Since they can't carry fare-paying passengers, many of them have switched fully to delivering parcels, food and groceries, causing a glut of riders in the market and affecting the income for gig workers from these sources as well.'I used to earn Rs 800–900 daily, but now I earn only Rs 400–500. This barely covers my bike's EMI,' said Mohammed Miraj, who has worked as a bike taxi rider in Bengaluru for the past three years. The 24-year-old rode with Uber, Rapido and other platforms to make a the ban, ride-hailing platforms Rapido and Uber renamed their bike service 'bike parcel' and 'moto courier'. This allowed gig workers like Miraj to work as couriers. He now delivers parcels for Uber, Rapido and platforms such as Borzo and Porter. 'But unlike bike taxis, parcel orders are infrequent, and the drivers must travel 10-15 km with no return rides,' he taxi operations account for 40% of India's ride-hailing volumes with Bengaluru having a 15–20% share, industry executives gig economy employed 7.7 million workers in 2020-21, according to a 2022 Niti Aayog report. The gig economy offers flexible jobs through platforms such as ride-hailing, food delivery and courier Mohammed Salim, a 41-year-old part-time graphic designer, the bike-taxi ban meant losing more than just used to begin his day at 7 am and work till noon, dropping officegoers in the city. He did the same in the evening between 4 pm and 8 pm, taking employees home. When not ferrying people, he would work on graphic designs at home.'The bike taxi not only gave me an opportunity to earn, it also allowed me to follow my passion in graphic design. No other job gives you that opportunity (and flexibility),' he said. 'At this age, who gives a job to a 41-year-old? This ban has completely left me without an income.'With bike-taxi riders moving to other platforms, the earnings of gig workers who primarily focus services such as food and grocery delivery have also taken a (name changed to protect identity), who hails from Bihar and works full time for Zomato in Bengaluru, said his earnings shrank from Rs 11,711 a week before the ban to Rs 5,749. 'Some days I used to earn more than Rs 2,000, but after the ban it has never happened,' he said. 'Riders have increased, which made me lose many orders. Despite me getting the notification (for an order), someone else would go pick it up.'A full-timer at Swiggy said, also on the condition of anonymity, that he used to earn far more money before the ban. Between June 2 and June 8, he worked 46 hours, earning Rs 8,743. This went down to Rs 7,334 after working 56 hours in the week after the ban, his app the bike-taxi rider who is now working as a courier, said the loss of earnings and rising costs have forced him to make difficult now earns Rs 400–500 a day. From that, he saves Rs 5,000 every month to pay his bike's EMI of Rs 5,000.'I used to give my mother Rs 500 (every day) from my savings, but today after the ban I hardly even get that much myself,' he said. 'I hope the bike taxi ban is revoked. Let them bring rules — we are ready to follow. It's not just for us; many office-going people used to take our services daily.'In its order in early April, the Karnataka high court said bike taxis could not operate without proper regulations under the Motor Vehicles emails and calls to aggregator companies including Rapido, Ola, Uber, Zomato and Swiggy did not elicit any which provides professional car drivers, saw its headcount swell immediately after the ban on bike taxis came into the following fortnight, around 1,200 drivers joined its ranks against 181 in the same period of the previous month, chief executive Rahm Shastry told ET.'We've seen a substantial increase in drivers looking for new opportunities after the bike taxi ban,' said Shastry. 'As more drivers join the platform, our fulfilment rate has also gone up, ensuring better service for our customers.'Earlier, it could only be able to fulfil 65% of the demand due to a shortage of drivers, but now it does 80%, said Shastry. 'We have also raised earnings from Rs 525 to Rs 575 per trip for the driver partners,' he added.
India Today
14 hours ago
- India Today
Nitin Gadkari's app-cab reform: Drivers to get care, customer is the king
In India's booming app-based cab economy, often the only thing that matters for the consumer is not the technology or the car but the most-ignored cog in the wheel: the driver. Whether you step out grinning or groaning from an Ola/Uber ride depends on that crucial factor—how was the driver?Now, the Union ministry of road transport and highways, under Nitin Gadkari, seems to have finally accepted this elementary truth more than ever before. The newly revised Motor Vehicles Aggregator Guidelines 2025, published recently, take into account mental health reviews for drivers as well as how much their work schedules can be stretched, among other things. For an industry defined by long hours, fickle pay and frequent confrontational customers, it can be a game new guidelines, revised from an earlier set in 2020, say drivers will also get better insurance cover: Rs 15 lakh as term insurance and Rs 7.5 lakh for health, a big jump from the earlier Rs 10 lakh and Rs 5 lakh, respectively. It's a long overdue correction for a workforce that hasn't had access to the safety nets available to employees in the more formal bottomline: when drivers are safer, healthier and more secure, they are better able to serve customers; the roads get safer too. This has been underpinned by a growing acceptance within government that it is the people, as opposed to the infrastructure, that shape passengers' experience. That said, the refreshed and forward-looking 2025 regulations are not exactly mandatory. Transport may be on the Concurrent List of the Indian Constitution, but there's precious little the Centre can do to compel a state into legislating on transport matters. So it would be for each state government to either accept or adjust the recommendations. BJP-ruled states will probably fall in line, but others may hesitate, stall or even ignore the changes. It is, therefore, a wishlist with all the good there are several good upgrades in the guidelines as well, such as the way data is to be treated by the aggregators, as per the new Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023. Aggregators are now required to keep for a finite time—mininum three months, maximum two years—data generated by the Indian app on Indian servers and in compliance with the Indian data laws. It is part of a shift away from casual data-governance practices that used to be the norm, especially in the gig also a green nudge. Previously, states had the option to offer incentives for electric vehicles purchased within aggregator fleets. The rules now require action: at least 5 per cent of an aggregator's fleet must be electric within the first year of the notice, and that number must double in the second year. It's an aggressive play in a sector that has been slow to see EV adoption, largely because of the erratic charging infrastructure and higher out-of-pocket costs. Also, the demise of BluSmart has been a may finally have some bite. For instance, customers can now know the break-up of fares before booking their rides, ending opaque pricing that often left riders in the dark. If it takes the driver more than five minutes past promised time, riders will have a clear right to cancel the ride without penalty. Also, passengers are meant to be compensated if a driver cancels for no good training and safety protocols are improved as well. The old guidelines addressed gender sensitisation only. But the new ones say drivers have to learn about sexual harassment and how to protect the vulnerable—children and seniors and women. The guidelines stress there should be a clear way to escalate complaints in the the gulf between policy and practice remains wide. Aggregator platforms, known for finding ways to sidestep worker protections in the gig economy in the name of technological neutrality, are likely to slow down on implementing the more stringent rules. And unless state governments have the political will for enforcement, these may well remain on all in all, by making the driver the centerpiece of the ride-hailing equation, the government is signalling a new norm. While it could still be a bumpy ride, a lot of the potholes look set to be filled should the states play to India Today Magazine- EndsTune InMust Watch
