Centre Asks Amazon And Flipkart To Set Up ONDC Storefronts On Their Home Pages

The government has asked ecommerce players Amazon and Flipkart to set up Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) storefronts on their home pages to help the network scale up operations, facilitate deliveries and to address any issues or delays.

The network is “in active discussion with Amazon and Flipkart for a phased participation and that results could be expected soon,” ET reported, citing ONDC’s managing director T Koshy.

ONDC is currently in talks with the National Restaurants Association of India (NRAI), which serves as the representative body for over 500,000 restaurants.

The discussions aim to establish seamless last-mile connectivity for food delivery, improve order tracking, enhance discoverability, and streamline operations within the food services sector.

Meanwhile, ONDC, in collaboration with NRAI, has established a Champion Council. This council comprises distinguished representatives from various segments including casual and fine-dine chains, quick-service restaurants, cloud kitchens, cafes, and regional players. The primary objective behind this initiative is to foster growth and ensure smoother and broader participation from the sector.

Launched in 2021 by the Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), ONDC is an open source platform that aims to democratise ecommerce in India and bring small businesses online.

As a private non-profit platform backed by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), ONDC aims to “democratise” ecommerce in the country. The likes of Delhivery, Paytm, Phonepe, Uber, IDFC Bank, Kotak, Shiprocket, Dunzo, and Tata Neu have integrated some of their services with the ONDC.

ONDC has been gradually adding new categories to the platform and expanding its services across the country.

It is reportedly looking to onboard news media platforms on the state-backed network. As part of this move, the digital arm of Hindi media giant Dainik Jagran is in advanced stages of integration with ONDC.

ONDC is poised to push growth in the ecommerce space across sectors and potentially generate $250-300 Bn in GMV (gross merchandise value) by 2030, as per a RedSeer report.

Note: We at Inc42 take our ethics very seriously. More information about it can be found here.