ONDC – which is currently running alpha tests in 85 cities, in addition to beta tests in two cities, with 800 merchants and 26 participants onboard – seeks to usher in a new era of digital commerce by democratising the domestic ecommerce landscape and setting a benchmark for the world by solving a global problem, ONDC CEO T Koshy said.
“The two unique features of the ONDC network are that, this is the first time such a thing is being attempted and secondly, it is an attempt to solve a problem faced by everyone in the world. The issue of market concentration and the related practice is a challenge not just in a developing country,” Koshy told the Economic Times during ET MSME Talks, a conversation series with industry experts, policymakers, and top business leaders on a range of topics of importance to MSMEs, under the ET MSME Awards 2022 initiative.
“The Americans are trying to develop something called the ‘America Innovation and Online Choice Act’. The Europeans are trying to do something called ‘Digital Market Access Act,’ all addressing the same issue. So they’re all keenly watching how we (leverage) technology and markets with enabling policies to address the same issue,” Koshy added.
The vision of the ONDC network is to democratise e-commerce trade in a manner that any buyer in India is able to buy any product or service from any seller in India, including MSMEs and other small scale businesses. Just as UPI was a groundbreaking and revolutionary concept, ONDC too aims to disrupt the monopoly of the private players in the e-commerce industry.
Through ONDC, India is trying to create a network of well-intentioned buyers and sellers, thus reducing the reliance on private ecommerce platforms and creating a level playing field for both large and small businesses with equal opportunities. ONDC is also paving the path for businesses across the ecommerce ecosystem, including startups, banks, MSMEs, and telcos, to find new avenues for innovation and growth.
During his conversation with Miloni Bhatt, Editor – Digital Broadcast, EconomicTimes.com, Koshy shared deep-dive insights on the different nuances of digital trade and how ONDC is working towards empowering MSMEs.Koshy said, “When ONDC becomes all pervasive, any person or entity who has a product or service to offer will be able to offer to this common pool using the ONDC protocol. And any buyer application will be able to discover. So, you don’t need to be there on multiple platforms. For example, the buyer application will help you discover product, service,mobility, tickets, hotels, everything will become easily possible because it’s all available there. So it is not anybody’s exclusive area. That is the big difference between an open network versus a closed network.”
Watch the full interview with ONDC CEO T Koshy here:
To know more about the ET MSME Awards and ET MSME Talks visit the website.
