Govt Rolls Out ONDC To Bring Down Dominance Of E-Commerce Giants Flipkart, Amazon

The government has launched its major initiative, Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), for public in Bengaluru in order to bring down the dominance of e-commerce players such as Flipkart and Amazon. The launch of ONDC seeks to assist small retailers and generate an alternative to global giants like Amazon and Walmart as they have seized control of a significant portion of India's rapidly growing e-commerce industry.

Now buyers in the Bengaluru, Capital of Karnataka, can buy from several categories of products and services from a single buyer application of their liking. In other words, consumers now has the choice to place their orders in two specific categories namely, groceries and restaurants, via any buyer apps taking part on the ONDC network.

Presently, Mystore, Spicemoney, and PayTM have availability as buyer apps on ONDC.
According to commerce and industry ministry Piyush Goyal, "Bengaluru consumers to get a whole new shopping experience! Beta testing of the Govt's revolutionary Open Network for Digital Commerce to begin from tomorrow. It is a democratic, cost-effective, and empowers buyers and small business."

Earlier this year in April, the ministry floated the pilot phase of open network for digital commerce, a UPI kind of protocol, in five cities namely Delhi, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Shilong, and Coimbatore. Consumers have access to carry out transactions in these cities.

It is worth noting that nearly 20 organisations on national status have confirmed investment of approximately 255 crore into ONDC. Lenders like SBI, UCO Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, and Bank of Baroda have pledged investments, as per a PTI report.
The initiative will bring down the dominance of two leading multinational giants that has gained control of more than half of India's trading, limit access to the market, and provide preferential treatment to specific sellers and squeeze supplier margins, according to a PTI report.

ONDC is a set of standards for voluntary adoption by sellers or logistics providers or payment gateways.

ONDC obtained its certificate of incorporation as a private sector-led non-profit company on December 31, 2021.