'ONDC will become a formidable e-commerce player in near future'

New Delhi, June 10 (IANS) The government-run Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) is set to become a formidable e-commerce player in the near future, said ONDC MD and CEO T Koshy on Monday.

In an interview with IANS, Koshy said that the good traction the platform received in the last 15 months proves that ONDC has the potential to completely transform the e-commerce landscape.

“We definitely will become a formidable e-commerce player in the near future. We will have the complete transformational capability of commerce whether in supply chain or distribution channels, whether it is B2B or B2C,” said Koshy.

He said that ONDC will cover all segments, and not just focus on ecommerce. The diversity of the kind of participation can be seen with FinTech companies like Paytm, Phone Pay, and Ola.

“For example, a consumer might be able to order food, consumer products, fashion goods or hail a taxi. I see that e-commerce, as we know, will undergo significant change, with no more walled gardens, but a very, very democratic place,” Koshy said.

“The single objective of ONDC is democratisation of the e-commerce industry”, he said adding that “the idea is to give everybody a market share”.

The ONDC Chief said that a very broad array of enterprises from various segments are expected to join the network and it aims to “collectively work” to sustain both small and big enterprises.

The network currently has five and a half lakh merchants. Koshy said that the platform is getting traction from various ministries including the Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), ministries of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Youth Affairs, etc.

He added that ONDC is also working with larger organisations like HUL and ITC, and even entities like SIDBI and NABARD, etc.

“There is a willingness from a large cross-section of people to participate from the government, the private sector to philanthropic organisations, CSR. I believe it will become like a movement, which spans across the country and domains,” Koshy said.