- Which Government Platform has Started for E-commerce in India ?
(ONDC) Stands for Open Network for Digital Commerce has Started E-commerce in India.
- What is Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC)?
It is an initiative aimed at promoting open networks for all aspects of exchange of goods and services over digital or electronic networks. ONDC is to be based on open-sourced methodology, using open specifications and open network protocols independent of any specific platform. It is being developed as a counter to the current duopoly in the Indian e-commerce market which is largely dictated by Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart.
The platform aims to create new opportunities, curb digital monopolies and by supporting micro, small and medium enterprises and small traders and help them get on online platforms. It is an initiative of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
In May this year, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) went live with a test run of ONDC in cities like Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru, Coimbatore, Bhopal, and Shillong where it plans to onboard 150 sellers.
- How does ONDC work?
The ONDC platform lies in the middle of the interfaces hosting the buyers and the sellers. So far, the buyer side interface is being hosted by Paytm, whereas the seller side interface is being hosted by other players like GoFrugal, etc.
When a buyer searches for an item on the Paytm app, from where ONDC has gone live, the app will connect to the ONDC platform, which will connect it to seller side interfaces that will list all the companies from where you can buy the particular item.
On ONDC, there will be several other backend partners such as logistics service providers, enterprise resource planners, ecommerce store hosting service providers, etc.
- Features of ONDC
ONDC, a UPI of e-commerce, seeks to democratize digital or electronic commerce, moving it from a platform-centric model to an open-network. Through ONDC, merchants will be able to save their data to build credit history and reach consumers.
In this system, ONDC plans to enable sellers and buyers to be digitally visible and transact through an open network, regardless of what platform or application they use. It will also empower merchants and consumers by breaking silos to form a single network to drive innovation and scale, transforming all businesses from retail goods, food to mobility.
The new framework aims at promoting open networks developed on open-sourced methodology, using open specifications and open network protocols independent of any specific platform.
According to the government’s official statement, ONDC shall take all measures to ensure confidentiality and privacy of data in the network. ONDC shall not mandate sharing of any transaction-level data by participants with ONDC. Will work with its participants to publish anonymized aggregate metrics on network performance without compromising on confidentiality and privacy.
- What are the challenges ONDC aims to address?
An ONDC strategy paper published earlier this year has flagged the rising dominance of global players in India’s e-commerce ecosystem, pointing out that the large quantum of investment required to build competitors to the integrated solutions offered by the big players has become an entry barrier for digital marketplaces.
It also flagged the inability of marketplace sellers to move out of the platform ecosystem, given that the value created by these small players is stored with the larger platforms. With this in mind, ONDC aims to transform the marketplace ecosystem from an operator-driven platform-centric model to a facilitator-driven interoperable decentralized network.
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