Rapido Emerges as Stronger Competitor to Uber Than Ola, Says CEO Dara Khosrowshahi

Rapido is making headlines once again as the Bengaluru-based startup expands its footprint and tests new verticals, including a beta version of a food delivery platform called Ownly in the city. The move signals the company’s ambition to diversify beyond its core ride-hailing services.

In a recent development, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi acknowledged Rapido as a formidable player in India’s competitive mobility sector. “Ola used to be our main competition, now the tougher competition in India is Rapido,” Khosrowshahi said in a teaser of his full interview on Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath’s podcast People by WTF.

His remarks indicate a significant shift in India’s $13-billion ride-hailing market, which was once dominated by Ola. The growing influence of Rapido comes at a time when the company faces regulatory challenges. Just days ago, the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA), the country’s top consumer watchdog, imposed a penalty of ₹10 lakh on Rapido for what it described as misleading and unfair trade practices.

Rapido, founded in 2015 as a bike taxi aggregator, has steadily expanded into auto-rickshaw and cab services. Today, its services are available in over 100 cities across India. The company has also been actively seeking fresh funding, focusing on tier-two and tier-three cities where demand for affordable transportation remains high. Analysts attribute its rising popularity to its emphasis on two-wheeler and three-wheeler mobility, particularly appealing to price-conscious users in a post-pandemic economy.

However, this rapid growth has drawn attention from regulators. The CCPA, led by Chief Commissioner Nidhi Khare, took suo motu cognisance of two Rapido ad campaigns — ‘Guaranteed Auto’ and ‘AUTO IN 5 MIN OR GET ₹50’ — and deemed them misleading. “It may be noted that Rapido offers its services in over 120 cities, and the impugned advertisement ran for at least 548 days (approximately 1.5 years), being propagated in multiple regional languages across the country. Therefore, the CCPA finds it necessary to impose a penalty to safeguard the interests of consumers,” the authority stated in its order. The directions were issued under multiple sections of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.

Meanwhile, Ola, Rapido’s former key rival, has shifted its strategic priorities beyond mobility. The company is now focusing on electric vehicle manufacturing, battery technology, geospatial solutions, and artificial intelligence. This pivot has coincided with a dip in its ride-hailing market share. Ola Consumer reported a revenue decline to ₹1,906 crore in FY24 from ₹2,135 crore in FY23. Parent company ANI Technologies also saw a slight drop in consolidated revenue to ₹2,203 crore from ₹2,277 crore. On the positive side, Ola managed to reduce its consolidated net loss significantly to ₹328.5 crore in FY24 from ₹772.2 crore in the previous year, largely due to reduced employee benefit expenses.

As the mobility landscape in India evolves, Rapido’s aggressive expansion and innovation strategy position it as a major challenger to Uber, reshaping the competitive dynamics in the sector.