Rapido Overtakes Ola as Toughest Rival in India: Uber CEO
- Uber CEO says Rapido has overtaken Ola as Uber’s toughest competitor in India.
- India is Uber’s third-largest market with 1.4 Million drivers, seen as a 'must-win' market.
- Rapido’s zero-commission model boosts driver earnings, but profitability remains a challenge.
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has said that bike taxi platform Rapido has become Uber’s biggest competitor in India, overtaking Ola in terms of market challenge. Speaking on Zerodha Co-founder Nikhil Kamath’s podcast released Sunday, Khosrowshahi explained how Rapido’s aggressive push into two- and three-wheelers with a zero-commission subscription model has given it a strong edge.
“Ola used to be our main competition. I’d say now the tougher competition in India is Rapido. They got into two-wheelers and three-wheelers really aggressively with a zero-commission subscription model. Very scrappy as well. Ola is now kind of a distant third”, he said.
Khosrowshahi stressed that India is one of Uber’s most important global markets. The country is now Uber’s third-largest market in terms of trips, with more than 1.4 million drivers across cars, autos, bikes and three-wheelers. “India is a must win for Uber, not just tomorrow, but ten years from now”, he added.
Talking about Rapido’s business model, he acknowledged that its subscription approach gives drivers higher earnings and helped it gain early traction. However, he pointed out that Rapido is 'not making money' and will be tested on whether it can grow profitably. “We’ve got a lot of respect for them and we intend to compete really hard”, Khosrowshahi said.
The Uber chief also spoke about the broader quick commerce and mobility space, sharing advice for entrepreneurs. He said businesses should focus on finding product-market fit and growing gradually, rather than being obsessed with large market size figures. “Total addressable markets are for fundraising decks, not for building businesses”, he noted.
Reflecting on Uber’s broader role, he said the company aims to be a 'local operating system' for daily life, covering rides, food, groceries and retail delivery. In India, Uber Eats was sold to Zomato in 2020, a deal that gave Uber a stake later sold. “We’re not an investment company. My competency is to build operating businesses and grow them over time”, he said, when asked about exiting Zomato.
On the future of autonomous vehicles, Khosrowshahi said the technology is inevitable but will take time to reach India. While such cars are safer, he explained, they remain very expensive even in developed countries. “For autonomous to come into India, it’s going to take a long time. I think we’re looking at a 20-year horizon”, he said.
On leadership, he described his natural style as collaborative but added that he has learned to take tough 'wartime decisions' when required, recalling pandemic layoffs at Uber. He also said that despite Uber’s global scale, he still wants the company to think and act like a startup while carrying the responsibility of being a large company.
