Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) spearheaded by the commerce ministry of India is a big push towards democratising Digital Commerce India, Union Minister Piyush Goyal said today.
ONDC is a push from the Government targeted to promote open networks for all aspects of the 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.
Govt asserted that ‘as Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is to the digital payment domain, ONDC is to e-commerce in India.’ The initiative is aimed to democratise digital commerce and move it from platform-centric model to an open-network model. Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal says that ONDC will work both for products and services.
How will Open Network for Digital Commerce work?
ONDC goes beyond the current platform-centric digital commerce model where the buyer and seller have to use the same platform or application to be digitally visible and do a business transaction.
“The foundations of ONDC are to be open protocols for all aspects in the entire chain of activities in exchange of goods and services, similar to hypertext transfer protocol for information exchange over internet, simple mail transfer protocol for exchange of emails and unified payments interface for payments,” the ministry said.
India’s commerce ministry looks to ‘end monopolistic practices’ in digital commerce
“These open protocols would be used for establishing public digital infrastructure in the form of open registries and open network gateways to enable the exchange of information between providers and consumers. Providers and consumers would be able to use any compatible application of their choice for the exchange of information and carrying out transactions over ONDC.”
Now, Amazon and Flipkart’s aspiration to dominate India’s $800 billion retail market will soon face a reality check as India’s commerce ministry looks to ‘end monopolistic practices’ in digital commerce.
Meanwhile the Piyush Goyal in his tweet said : Exports in July 2021 at an impressive $54.95 billion. Policies of Govt. led by PM @NarendraModi ji help sustain double digit growth. 23.24% jump over same period in 2019, as India speeds towards target to become world export hub.
