9th March 2025
Rapido’s co-founder, Pavan Guntupalli, has informed the news agency PTI of the company’s intention to expand into 500 cities across India this year. He highlighted that the country’s extensive and diverse mobility opportunities present significant growth potential.
“So out of the 500 cities, we have already expanded to more than 50 cities. The next phase would be Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, and slowly, we’ll be moving toward the northern states,” he said.
Currently, more than 35 percent of their rides are in smaller cities, and to further enhance this growth, the company has announced plans for a 500-city expansion within the year.
The ride-hailing platform, which facilitates 3.3 million rides encompassing auto, bike taxi, and cab services, is experiencing robust growth. Guntupalli noted that Rapido has already established itself as a market leader in both the two-wheeler and three-wheeler sectors and has also achieved market leadership in the four-wheeler segment in several cities.
Out of the approximately 3.3 million rides taken daily, over 50 percent (1.5 million) are in the two-wheeler category, nearly 1.3 million in the three-wheeler segment, and 500,000 in the four-wheeler category.
He mentioned that the company is currently managing 500,000 cab rides and anticipates further growth. He attributed this to its innovative Software as a Service (SaaS) model, which employs a platform access fee rather than a commission per ride, thereby maximizing earnings for its drivers, referred to as ‘captains.’
Guntupalli stated that while Rapido currently handles around 3.3 million rides daily, this figure represents only a fraction of the potential market in India. He elaborated on the country’s varied markets, explaining that in smaller towns, there tends to be a higher prevalence of two-wheelers, fewer three-wheelers, and even fewer four-wheelers. The Rapido team is dedicated to developing solutions tailored to the unique needs of different cities and markets.
“We are currently doing the five lakh rides in cabs and expect strong growth, and this is on the back of our SaaS (software as a service) innovation,” he said referring to Rapido’s model of platform access fee, instead of commission per ride that the company says maximises earnings for its ‘captains’ or drivers.
Talking about Indias diverse markets Guntupalli emphasised to PTI that “What we mean by that is, in a small town, maybe there are a lot more two wheelers, a relatively lesser number of three wheelers, and very less number of four wheelers,” he said adding that team Rapido is focused on solutions customised to the needs of specific cities and markets.
“Majority of our growth as of today…more than 35 per cent of the rides that we do are in smaller cities…and further to drive that, we have now announced a 500-city expansion. So within this year, we are going to expand into 500 more cities to fuel our growth as well as expansion,” Guntupalli said to PTI
“We have forayed into our four-wheeler industry a year ago, and with the help of the innovations that we have done, namely the SaaS model, we have seen tremendous growth in this segment as well,” he said.
