ONDC to end monopolistic practices in digital commerce, says commerce minister

New Delhi, Aug 14 (KNN) The proposed Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) will end monopolistic practices in digital commerce in India, said Union Commerce & Industry Piyush Goyal.

He said this while deliberating with the members of the advisory council & experts on how the initiative will democratise digital commerce & move it from platform-centric model to an open-network model.

The advisory council includes R.S. Sharma, CEO, National Health Authority, Nandan M. Nilekani, non-executive Chairman of Infosys, Adil Zainulbhai, Chairman, Quality Council of India, Anjali Bansal, Founder & Chairperson, Avaana Capital, Arvind Gupta, Co-founder & Head, Digital India Foundation, Dilip Asbe, MD & CEO, NPCI, Suresh Sethi, MD & CEO, NSDL e-Governance Infrastructure Ltd, Praveen Khandelwal, Secretary-General, Confederation of All India Traders and Kumar Rajagopalan, CEO, Retailer Association of India.

While reviewing the progress, the Goyal said that ONDC will work both for products and services. He also suggested that some guidelines or basic infrastructure, size, ethics and principles should be there.

''Security and data privacy and confidentiality must be ensured. This will create new opportunities and remove monopolistic environments," an official statement quoted Goyal as saying.

ONDC aims to democratise Digital Commerce, moving it from a platform-centric model to an open-network.

"As UPI is to the digital payment domain, ONDC is to e-commerce in India. ONDC will enable buyers and sellers to be digitally visible and transact through an open network. no matter what platform/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 commerce ministry said.