Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal On Tuesday, all retailers big and small were invited to join the government-promoted Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), as it will help in creating huge opportunities for all.
ONDC aims to promote an open platform for all aspects of e-commerce retail. This will help small retailers to expand their business through e-commerce medium and reduce the dominance of giants in the sector.
It is a non-profit company, creating a set of standards for voluntary adoption by vendors or logistics providers or payment gateway operators.
ONDC will require an undertaking from each participant at the time of onboarding that he/she will fully comply with the policy.
“The Walmart’s And Flipkart The Tatas of the world, and the Reliances of the world, all have a role to play in making ONDC a success. So, we would like to invite everyone to be a part of this journey in a free and fair manner and no one will be discriminated against. It is open to all. ONDC is open for business,” Goyal said at a function here.
The Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Consumer Affairs are working together to ensure that consumer complaints are resolved.
“We are ensuring that this platform remains completely agnostic to any influence,” Goyal said. The addition of platforms will allow the e-commerce sector to flourish without harming a large section of stakeholders and small retailers.
This will allow small retailers to participate in this journey of new technologies and new ways of doing business.
He added, “ONDC doesn’t threaten anyone. Not even big e-commerce is a threat. It just steps in and opens doors of opportunities.”
The platform, he said, is using a system of creating an inter-operable network, which allows different platforms to collaborate and form an interface to help buyers and sellers.
“ONDC will be the transformational e-commerce platform not only in India but across the world in the years to come,” he added.
On public procurement portal GeM, he said, it has saved Rs. 40,000 crores of taxpayers’ money.