BENGALURU: The government does not want private entities piggybacking on the ONDC platform to offer their ‘innovative’ products. Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal invited ecommerce companies (big or small) to come on to the ONDC (Open Network for Digital Commerce platform) with their main offering, rather than creating ONDC-specific platforms.
His comment comes weeks after PhonePe launched a hyperlocal commerce app Pincode, which is built on the ONDC platform. Speaking at an event in New Delhi on Tuesday, Goyal said without naming PhonePe, “A few days ago, there was a company that had created an ONDC specific platform. That’s exactly what we don’t want to happen.”
Goyal asked ONDC CEO T Koshy to stop anybody that says “we have built a special platform for ONDC”. Interestingly, Koshy was present at the Pincode launch event that held recently in Bengaluru. Apart from PhonePe, as per reports, Axis Bank too might launch its own app on top of ONDC. He asked Koshy not to get carried away if someone says “we are building a platform for you.
Throw them out of the system.” When asked PhonePe about it, it declined to comment. Nikhil Kurhe, co-founder and CEO of Finarkein Analytics, believes a few entities will have ambitions larger than what the protocol can offer, as, ultimately, it can’t be everything for every entity. “ONDC is a net positive outcome though, which will facilitate growth of the e-commerce market in India.
However, I don’t believe it is possible to bring all companies and their entire business under ONDC network,” he said. Reacting to Goyal’s comment, Rahul Mehra, co-founder of Roadcast by Jubilant Foodworks, said ONDC will transform the way e-commerce functions via an open protocol based on open-source specifications. “The whole idea of ONDC is to bring sellers and buyers together in one place for better reach for both buyers and sellers, ,” he said.
Axis Bank may launch own app on ONDC
Goyal asked ONDC CEO T Koshy to stop anybody that says “we have built a special platform for ONDC”. Interestingly, Koshy was present at the Pincode launch event. Apart from PhonePe, as per reports, Axis Bank too might launch its own app on top of ONDC