If groceries can reach your doorstep in 10 minutes, why can’t drugs? PhonePe harped on this argument when it piloted Pincode into the quick commerce space last month with the promise of round-the-clock delivery. It took off with medicines but soon picked up delivering a host of other items too.

If PhonePe is the first fintech company to hit the quick commerce turf, then Pincode is the first among its quick commerce peers to deliver not just over-the-counter (OTC) drugs, but also prescription medicines. The company has signed up a host of doctors through a third-party arrangement for free consultations. This enables consumers to place orders without a prescription, and Pincode a competitive edge over its quick commerce rivals.

But what drove a fintech company that leads the UPI payments space with a 47.25% share of the market to the uncharted territory of the $6 Bn Indian quick commerce space dominated by giants like Zepto, Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart, and Flipkart Minutes?

“Our biggest reason for the venture was the huge network of merchants we have built on the UPI landscape,” a PhonePe insider said.

Pincode was first launched in 2023 on the ONDC platform, but it dissociated from the platform late last year, only to be relaunched with complete reliance on the network of its parent company.

According to the company’s website, as of March 2025, PhonePe had 600 Mn registered users and a digital payments acceptance network of over 40 Mn merchants. It processed over 330 Mn transactions every day, with an annualised total payment value (TPV) of over INR 150 Lakh Cr. “Expanding to the speed delivery segment ostensibly made sense,” a PhonePe official said on condition of anonymity.

From ONDC Pilot To A Standalone Play

After building its payments business and scaling financial services in stock broking, insurance, and lending, Walmart-backed PhonePe........

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