ONDC Expands Its Mobility Net With Namma Yatri’s Chennai Foray

Continuing its expansion spree, Namma Yatri, the auto-hailing app on the government-backed Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), has entered the Chennai market. 

The development comes weeks after Namma Yatri announced its entry in the Delhi market, in partnership with ONDC, earlier this month. 

The app claims to be already a prominent player in seven cities, including Bengaluru, Mysuru, Hyderabad and Kolkata. 

In a statement, Namma Yatri said it has already onboarded 10,000 auto drivers on the app in Chennai and plans to add 1 lakh drivers in the next 6 months. Further, it also plans to expand to other cities of Tamil Nadu after establishing its presence in Chennai. 

The launch of the service in Chennai was flagged off by the state’s transport and road safety commissioner, A. Shanmuga Sundaram. 

Commenting on the development, ONDC CEO T Koshy said, “Namma Yatri on ONDC network exemplifies the power of open networks in transforming urban mobility. It will facilitate more efficient, inclusive and sustainable transportation.”  

Developed by technology platform Juspay and backed by Nandan Nilekani’s Beckn Foundation, the Namma Yatri app was launched in late 2022. The open network mobility app facilitates direct rides between users and drivers, thereby cutting out aggregators such as Ola and Uber, which charge commissions as high as 30%.

The app claims that it has over 2 Lakh drivers on its platform and a user base of 40 Lakh. It claims to have facilitated more than 2.5 Cr trips and so far and enabled drivers to earn over INR 360 Cr without commission.

In September last year, the app rolled out two subscription slabs for auto drivers on its platform, which include a flat INR 25 fee per day for unlimited rides. Drivers also have the option of paying INR 3.5 for each ride, post which there will be no levies for the day.