The Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), an initiative to promote open networks for exchange of goods and services, is likely to be now extended to mobility, hospitality and travel sectors, officials have said.

Simultaneously, the government will continue to work on expanding the scope of pilot projects for sale of groceries, food and other essential items by adding more sellers and products, such as clothing, fashion and electronics.

“In ONDC, technology has been tested through the successful pilot run in Bengaluru for groceries and food. The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) is now also working on the concept of getting ONDC in mobility and hospitality and travel,” a person tracking the development told businessline.

More potential

In Kochi, the Kerala Transport Department has already introduced ONDC for mobility which has met with success. The DPIIT sees huge scope for rest of the country as commuters need choice beyond existing services such as Uber and Ola, the source added.

Tushar Garg, Chief Business Officer, BluSmart, said, “ONDC, which aims to democratise the digital commerce world, will enable consumers to get more choices of transport and can also help in increasing the penetration of electric mobility.”

There is also growing interest from the hospitality and travel industry in onboarding the platform. 

Industry bodies such as the Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) say they are keen on ONDC as it will be easier for travel and hotel players to operate on the network due to no last mile logistics.

Plans by ONDC to expand to mobility, hotels and travel sectors come at a time when the traditional transport (auto and taxi drivers) hotel and restaurant sectors have been up in arms against the growing monopolisation of some of the aggregators.

According to a study by Publicis Groupe and Digital India Foundation, players in the travel, transport and logistics sector such as hotels, will be able to list their inventories through the seller side app on ONDC for increased reach and reduced overhead costs. Existing aggregators will have the opportunity to join ONDC as a buyer-side or seller-side app for incremental revenues.

Restaurants will be able to leverage ONDC’s network partners (gateways, logistics, etc.) to serve their customers. Based on empirical evidence, the commission structure on ONDC is likely to be more competitive vis-à-vis established food delivery platforms, the study pointed out.

Pradeep Shetty, Executive Committee Member at FHRAI said, the expansion of ONDC has the potential to solve key issues being faced by the sector. “It will ensure consumers as well as commercial ventures do not get shortchanged and ensure local players get a level-playing field. Infact, I believe it will be a lot easier for hotels industry to get onboarded on ONDC as unlike food and beverage sector, there is no aspect of last mile logistics,” Shetty added.

Expansion plan

The pilot project for ONDC, which was introduced in Bengaluru earlier this year for groceries and food and so far completed around 2,500 orders, will be extended to smaller cities all over the country, the source said. “Pilot launches in bigger cities, including Delhi, will come later when the platform gains momentum and is a success at smaller places,” the source said.

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Published on December 13, 2022