Swiggy Genie Not Available in Most Cities as Company Bets Big on 10-Minute Bolt Deliveries

Swiggy, one of India's most popular food delivery apps, has temporarily stopped its Genie service in many cities. Swiggy Genie was used for pickup and drop services like if you wanted to send any products or small parcels from one place to another within a city. The service was available in around 70 cities, but now it has disappeared from the Swiggy app in most locations. When users try to open it, they see a message saying "temporarily unavailable."

Swiggy has not made any big official announcement, but it replied to users on social media (X, earlier known as Twitter) saying that Genie is paused due to operational issues. They did not give any clear date for when the service will return, but mentioned that they are working on bringing it back.

Swiggy Bolt

Interestingly, this change comes right after Swiggy started expanding its new service called Bolt, which is focused on 10-minute food delivery. Swiggy Bolt now works in over 500 cities, including smaller towns (Tier-II and Tier-III cities). It delivers ready-to-eat food from partner restaurants within 2 km, promising delivery in just 10 minutes. Bolt already has over 45,000 restaurant partners, including popular chains like McDonald's, KFC, Subway, and Burger King.

Because of Bolt, Swiggy is seeing a rise in orders. Right now, 1 in every 10 orders on the app comes through Bolt. This shows that Swiggy is trying to grow more in the quick food delivery space.

Swiggy's earnings have also gone up. In the last quarter of 2023, it earned Rs 3,993 crore, a 31% growth compared to the year before. But the company is also facing losses, which have increased to Rs 799 crore.

This is not the first time Swiggy has paused Genie. In 2022, it had stopped the service in Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Hyderabad for similar reasons.

Swiggy's main competitor, Zomato has also recently shut down its 15-minute delivery and home-style meals, everyday service due to low demand. These changes show that the food delivery market in India is always evolving, and companies are constantly adjusting based on customer needs and business priorities.