Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) Project

Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) Project

Subject : Governance

Context :Recently, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) had issued orders on appointing an advisory committee for Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) project.

Concept :

Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) Project

• It is project of Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).
• Its primary objective is to curb digital monopolies.
• Under the project, the onboarding of sellers, vendor discovery, price discovery and product cataloguing could be made open source on the lines of Unified Payments Interface (UPI).
• It is expected to digitise the entire value chain, standardise operations, promote inclusion of suppliers, derive efficiency in logistics and enhance value for consumers.
• The task of implementing DPIIT’s ONDC project has been assigned to the Quality Council of India (QCI).
• It aims at promoting open networks developed on open-sourced methodology, using open specifications and open network protocols, independent on any specific platform.

Digital Monopolies

• It refers to a scenario wherein e-commerce giants or Big Tech companies tend to dominate and flout competition law pertaining to monopoly.
• The giants have built their own proprietary platforms for operations.
• India moved to shake up digital monopolies in the country’s $ 1+ trillion retail market by making public a draft of a code of conduct i.e. Draft Ecommerce Policy.