Govt Introduces ONDC as Alternative to Amazon and Flipkart to Reduce e-Commerce Domination

With the intention to reduce the dominance Amazon and Flipkart have in the e-commerce market, the Indian government rolled out Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) for the public in Bengaluru on Friday.

The government plans to help small retailers through ONDC to create an alternative to dominant global giants like Amazon and Walmart that control over half of India’s fast-growing e-commerce market.

Citing it as a “democratic, cost-effective and empowers buyers and small businesses”, Union Minister Piyush Goyal showed his support for the app via Twitter. Bengaluru consumers can now shop from multiple categories of products and services from a single buyer application of their choice.

They can place their orders in two domains groceries and restaurants through any buyer apps participating on the ONDC network. As of now, PayTM, Spicemoney and Mystore are available as buyer apps on ONDC. The government believes that ONDC will help in reducing the monopoly of major firms and expanding the market for small business owners.

The open network for digital commerce's experimental phase was introduced by the ministry of commerce and industry in April in five cities: Delhi NCR, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Shillong, and Coimbatore. In these cities, transactions were permitted.

Up to 20 reputable national organizations have committed a total of Rs 255 crore to ONDC. Lenders have already pledged investments, including the State Bank of India, UCO Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, and Bank of Baroda.

A set of standards called ONDC is available for voluntary adoption by retailers, logistics companies, and payment processors.

Local business owners in a variety of industries, including mobility, shopping, food order and delivery, hotel booking, and travel, will be able to include their goods and services in any app's search results thanks to ONDC.

For instance, a consumer shopping for any goods on Amazon would also receive results from Flipkart and other merchants on the Amazon app if both Amazon and Walmart's Flipkart integrated their platforms with ONDC.