SUMMARY
The auto booking mobile app by Bengaluru drivers has been built and launched by Juspay Technologies
Namma Yatri claims to have nearly 45,000 drivers and served 4.5 lakh customers since its launch in November last year
ONDC is in talks with more companies in the mobility segment across cities and aims to do for mobility what UPI did with digital payments, CEO Koshy said
The Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) has forayed into the mobility segment by onboarding Bengaluru-based auto booking app ‘Namma Yatri’ on the network.
The development comes days after Bengaluru auto unions went on a two-day strike demanding a ban on operations of bike taxi aggregators like Ola and Uber.
Built and launched by Juspay Technologies, Namma Yatri is an auto-rickshaw booking mobile app by a Bengaluru auto union.
The app claims to have nearly 45,000 drivers and served 4.5 lakh customers since its launch in November last year. It clocks nearly 1 lakh trips per week currently.
According to ONDC CEO T Koshi, the open network will provide equal opportunities to mobility players of all sizes, including existing and new players.
“Finally, it amplifies the impact and the leverage of public transportation systems. What UPI and NPCI did for digital payments, ONDC intends to do for mobility,” he added.
The ONDC platform, backed by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), was launched in the latter half of 2022. It is an open network aimed at unbundling the existing closed network of digital commerce and enabling small businesses to participate in the space.
“We are already discussing it (mobility service) in multiple cities. The very demonstration of what we have done in Bengaluru will give us confidence to roll out in multiple cities. It’s not ONDC-led, it’s local enterprises. We want to be an enabler. We are not a platform, we offer interoperability by giving a protocol,” Koshy said when asked about the expansion plans for the mobility segment.
ONDC is also looking at onboarding more companies in the mobility segment across several cities over the next few months, its vice president Nitin Nair said.
Last year, Kochi Open Mobility Network (KOMN), an initiative of the Kerala transport department, also integrated with ONDC. KOMN integrates urban transport across modes using technology and is aimed at digitising mobility in the city.
Meanwhile, Koshi said that while ONDC is recording hundreds of ecommerce transactions per day, it is expected to increase to thousands in the next few months. While the network had about 800 merchants in December, ithas over 26,000 merchants today, he added.
The likes of Delhivery, Paytm, Phonepe, IDFC Bank, Kotak, Shiprocket, Dunzo, and, most recently, Snapdeal have integrated some of their services with the ONDC.
