Dear reader,

Rapido’s attention is somewhat divided. The unicorn’s foray into food delivery has been coming for months. But even as Rapido looked to build this new business, its ride-hailing core is going through the same scaling-up pains.

From concerns about safety to allegations of price gouging to several flare-ups between drivers and customers to complaints about the support and resolution process, Rapido’s current state looks eerily similar to Ola Cabs and Uber.

As Rapido has grown its market share in the ride-hailing business in autos and taxis — adding to its bike-hailing dominance — it needs to address these concerns before it dives deep into food delivery, another business that requires a similar high-touch customer service.

With revenue expected to breach INR 1,000 Cr and profitability on the horizon, this is not an area that Rapido can leave unaddressed for much longer. And while the company has consistently stated that customer safety and driver welfare is a priority area, a big shift is needed.

And now that the company is said to be preparing for a mammoth $550 Mn round, customer experience and driver management will become more pertinent than ever.

Let’s see if Rapido is ready, but first a look at the top stories from our newsroom this week:

• Inside Pepperfry’s Distress Sale: Once valued at about $350 Mn, Pepperfry is now being acquired in a distress sale. The deal, valued between INR 800 Cr-INR 1,000 Cr, comes as the startup struggled with high-cost imports, offline expansion, premium pricing and stiff competition.
• Ultraviolette’s Pivot: Struggling with lukewarm sales and slow registrations, Ultraviolette is now shifting from premium high-performance EV bikes to more affordable to directly compete with the likes of Oben, Revolt and other traditional motorcycles in the country.
• Amazon’s Quick Commerce Push: Amazon has launched its 10-minute delivery service, Amazon Now, in Mumbai ahead of the festive season, aiming to cross-sell to Prime users and consolidate household spending. With plans for 300 dark stores by year-end, the ecommerce giant faces a tough execution challenge against established quick commerce rivals.

A Series Of Concerns

Rapido’s current issues don’t just pertain to customers or passengers, but also drivers.

A Rapido customer’s experience with an auto driver in Bengaluru over a fare dispute in June 2025 was fairly well reported, but such disputes occur more often than one might come across on mainstream media.

Just search for user reviews of Rapido on Reddit or Twitter, and there are umpteen posts about unruly exchanges between the driver and the customer, allegedly intoxicated drivers, dispute over pricing or AC within a car and more. All of this sounds very similar to past incidents at Ola, Uber India and other ride-hailing platforms.

A more recent social media post from an unconfirmed Rapido driver

© Inc42