What is ONDC? The Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) is a network built on open protocols that enables local businesses across segments to be identified and engaged by any network-enabled application, including mobility, shopping, food ordering and delivery, hotel booking, and travel, among others. The platform promises to open up new opportunities, break up digital monopolies, and let micro, small, and medium-sized businesses and independent merchants join online marketplaces. It is a project of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry’s Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).
What is ONDC?
Key Features of Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC)
By converting digital or electronic commerce from a platform-centric model to an open-network, ONDC, a UPI of e-commerce, aims to democratize the industry. Merchants will be able to save their data through ONDC in order to reach customers and establish credit histories.
The new government-backed platform aims to level the playing field for online retail giants like Amazon and Flipkart as well as offline merchants who have been complaining about the unfair business practices of these e-tailers. The platform will also be in conformity with the upcoming Personal Data Protection Bill as well as the Information Technology Act of 2000.
The ONDC system will make it possible for buyers and sellers to trade over an open network independent of the platform or application they use. By dissolving silos and creating a single network to encourage development and scale, it will also enable businesses across all industries, from retail to food to mobility. The new framework seeks to support open networks created using open standards and open network protocols that are independent of any particular platform.
It is anticipated to digitalize the entire value chain, standardise operations, encourage supplier inclusion, increase logistics efficiency, and improve value for customers. The government’s official statement is that ONDC must take all necessary steps to protect the privacy and confidentiality of data in the network. Participants are not required by ONDC to share any transaction-level data with ONDC. will collaborate with its users to publish anonymous aggregate metrics on network performance while maintaining privacy and confidentiality.
Currently, ONDC is at the pilot stage. To design and hasten the adoption of ONDC, the government has established a nine-member advisory board, which includes Nandan Nilekani from Infosys and R. S. Sharma, CEO of the National Health Authority.