ONDC Onboards Former TRAI Chief R S Sharma As Non-Executive Chairperson

The government-run Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) has appointed former chairman of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) R S Sharma as its non-executive chairperson.

In his new role, Sharma will help in pacing up the network’s adoption both in domestic and overseas markets.

Sharma headed the TRAI from August 2015 to October 2020.

“As the chairperson of ONDC, Sharma’s leadership will be instrumental in driving the organization through its next phase of innovation and expansion. His deep understanding of implementation and ecosystem development in digital public infrastructure will be a cornerstone as ONDC continues to advance its mission and objectives,” ONDC said in a statement.

This isn’t the first time that the 1978 IAS batch bureaucrat, Sharma, will be working with ONDC. He has been associated with ONDC since its inception and was a member of the ONDC Advisory Council and the ONDC Technology & Strategy Review Council.

Sharma is said to be instrumental in the development and implementation of digital public infrastructure projects like Aadhaar, and CoWIN, among others.

With over 40 years of experience, Sharma has held several key roles, including the director general and mission director of UIDAI, CEO of National Health Authority (NHA), secretary of the ministry of electronics and information technology, and the chief secretary for the government of Jharkhand, among others.

During his tenure with NHA between February 2021 and January 2023, his leadership was instrumental in leveraging technology to address population-scale challenges in the COVID-19 pandemic. He led the implementation of Ayushman Bharat – Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) while also initiating the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM), the statement added.

He also led the design and implementation of the COVID-19 vaccination platform CoWIN.

ONDC is an open protocol-based network to enable local commerce across multiple segments, including grocery and mobility among others. It was incorporated in 2021 as an initiative of DPIIT under the aegis of ministry of commerce and industry. 

The network claims to enable more than 1.2 Cr orders per month and has forayed into categories such as fintech, fashion, electronics in products, and ride-hailing, among others. ONDC claims to have over 6 Lakh sellers live on its network across the country.

This comes at the heart of ONDC’s diversifying its offerings and scaling up its presence. 

Last month, it was reported that ONDC is planning to launch insurance and mutual fund products in the coming months. 

In the same month, the network bolstered its fintech play with the launch of credit offerings in just six minutes. 

ONDC processed 12.5 Mn transactions in August, reflecting a 5% sequential increase. The majority of these transactions were from the mobility category, while the rest came from sectors such as retail purchases and logistics services, among others.