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"The Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), an initiative of the government to democratise digital commerce by moving it from a platform-centric model to an open-network, will not be limited to products but also be available for services," said Commerce & Industry Minister Piyush Goyal .
Security and data privacy and confidentiality must be ensured for users of the platform, the Minister said in a meeting with the members of the advisory council and experts on Friday.
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The Minister added that the initiative, being implemented by the Department for Promotion of Investments and Internal Trade, would create new opportunities and remove monopolistic environments, per an official release.
“In addition to establishing ONDC to manage the Open Network, the government may consider establishing an independent regulatory authority for e-commerce (such as SEBI for the capital market),” the statement added.
The advisory council for ONDC, constituted on July 5, includes Nandan M. Nilekani, non-executive Chairman of Infosys, R S Sharma, CEO, National Health Authority, Adil Zainulbhai, Chairman, QCI and Capacity Building Commission, Anjali Bansal, Founder & Chairperson, Avaana Capital, Arvind Gupta, Co-founder & Head, Digital India Foundation, Dilip Asbe, MD & CEO, NPCI, Suresh Sethi, MD & CEO, NSDL, Praveen Khandelwal, Secretary-General, Confederation of All India Traders and Kumar Rajagopalan, CEO, Retailer Association of India.
The government wants ONDC to serve the same purpose for e-commerce as UPI does for the digital payment domain. “ONDC will enable, buyers and sellers to be digitally visible and transact through an open network. no matter what platform or application they use. ONDC will 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 release stated.
ONDC shall initially give special attention help onboard small and medium players and will also plan for an information, education and communication campaign to educate and encourage users and address apprehensions of the network participants.
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