Flipkart expands employee food-delivery trial to upwards of 8,000

Flipkart has expanded an internal food-delivery trial from a few hundred employees to upwards of 8,000 and deployed a dedicated Ekart rider fleet, TechCrunch reports, citing two people familiar with the matter. The employee-only service sits inside its shopping app and draws on restaurants connected through the government-backed ONDC network and others signed directly. Restaurant association president Sagar Daryani said Flipkart proposed a base commission of about 10%, compared with the 20% to 25% restaurants typically pay Zomato and Swiggy. He said Flipkart told restaurants it expects a public launch by the end of October and expansion to five or six cities by year-end. The service remains an employee trial, and Flipkart did not respond to a request for comment.