Ola is Testing 10-Minute Food Delivery with ONDC to Compete with Zepto, Swiggy, Blinkit

Ola Consumer, led by Bhavish Aggarwal, is testing 10-minute food deliveries in Bengaluru using the Open Network For Digital Commerce (ONDC) platform. Customers can now place orders through the Ola app and experience ultra-fast service.

Additionally, Ola is venturing into groceries and pharmaceuticals, entering the competitive quick commerce sector alongside players like Zepto, Swiggy, and Blinkit. 

The feature is now available with restaurants such as EatFit. 

Following its exit from food delivery in 2020, Ola’s bold return with a hyperlocal strategy may shake up the market. In 2016, Ola shut down its food delivery service, Ola Cafe, which had promised 20-minute deliveries, due to intense competition from other food delivery platforms. 

The company had previously introduced its quick commerce service under the name Ola Dash. However, it was discontinued in June 2022, as the company decided to ‘reorient its Ola Cars business to focus more on strengthening the go-to-market strategy for Ola Electric.’

On Tuesday, another challenger in the food delivery space, magicpin, unveiled its 10-minute food delivery service, magicNOW, which is already operational in cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad. 

The quick food delivery market is also seeing competition from major players such as Zepto with Zepto Cafe, Swiggy with Bolt, and Zomato with Bistro by Blinkit. 

Earlier this month, Aggarwal announced that he has committed 1.1 percent of the company’s equity, valued at approximately INR 452 crore based on the current market capitalisation, to support and grow his AI venture, Krutrim, by raising funds through debentures.

Krutrim will power the LLM services for the Kumbh Sah’AI’yak app, an AI chatbot unveiled today by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 

Designed for Maha Kumbh Mela 2025, which is taking place from January 13th to February 26th 2025 in Prayagrag, the chatbot aims to enhance the experience of devotees in the city, showcasing a groundbreaking blend of culture and technology.