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Partners Universal International Research Journal (PUIRJ)
Volume: 01 Issue: 02 | April-June 2022 www.puirj.com
© 2022, PUIRJ | DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6799694 Page | 92
Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) : Democratizing Digital
Commerce and curbing digital monopolies in India
Dr.A.Shaji George1, A.S. Hovan George2
1Director, Masters IT Solutions, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
2Masters IT Solutions, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.
---------------------------------------------***--------------------------------------
Abstract -
Global digital commerce is reshaping
the global business environment and has the
potential to provide a more level playing field that is
more welcoming to all types of businesses. It has
the potential to open up opportunities in the
economy for new groups of players, particularly for
smaller businesses. COVID-19 has facilitated the
growth of digital commerce throughout the world.
Although digital commerce in mobility and travel
services declined, it grew in the retail sector, where
its proportion of total retail sales has increased. The
increase in sales can be attributed to an increase in
business-to-consumer (B2C) sales. This is
especially evident in sales of household essentials,
medical supplies, as well as food products online.
Additionally, COVID-19 resulted in increased
business-to-business (B2B) digital commerce. The
current version of ecommerce stifles innovation
and also creates substantial barriers to access for
novice players. Industry analysts have found
feasible solutions for managing the bottlenecks
within India's digital commerce ecosystem. Taking
ideas from the presently successful model solutions
such as the Internet Message Access Protocol
(IMAP), Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), HTTP
(protocols for data communication and browsing),
and so on, the Open Network for Digital Commerce
(ONDC) has actually been developed to
revolutionize digital commerce within India. It is
going to be an open network developed on open
protocols based on open-source standards with set
registries, enabling wide-scale involvement by
digital commerce ecosystem players within India
via multiple gateways. The Open Network for Digital
Commerce (ONDC) project is intended to curb
digital monopolies. ONDC will offer a level playing
field for big and small digital commerce
applications and platforms via the possibility to be
ONDC permitted and make buyers and sellers
registered with all of them visible as well as
discoverable. ONDC aims to make e-commerce
procedures open source, thus creating a platform
that can be utilized by all online retailers. This paper
intends to provide a summary of the context,
underlying principles, as well as building blocks for
the advancement and operation of ONDC. It also
provides an overview of what ONDC can do to help
the various players in the digital commerce
ecosystem.
Keywords: Digital Commerce, ONDC- Open Network
for Digital Commerce, COVID19, Business-to-
Consumer (B2C), digital commerce ecosystem,
ONDC network, Open network, ONDC, E-Commerce.
1.INTRODUCTION
As the world moves towards a more digital
economy, businesses are seeking innovative ways
to connect with consumers. A new network called
ONDC is aiming to make this process easier by
providing a platform for businesses of all sizes to
connect with each other and conduct digital
transactions. In recent years, the internet has
transformed the way in which people communicate
and shop. With the rise of online shopping, it is
important for businesses to have a well-developed
Partners Universal International Research Journal (PUIRJ)
Volume: 01 Issue: 02 | April-June 2022 www.puirj.com
© 2022, PUIRJ | DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6799694 Page | 93
digital infrastructure in order to keep up with the
competition. Online digital commerce is thriving
and expanding rapidly [1]. However, there is still
room for improvement when it comes to the way
products are sold. One solution is to create an open
network that allows for more convenient and
streamlined transactions. The ONDC is a group
effort to build an open ecosystem for digital
commerce [2]. It is also a network built on open
protocols that will make it possible for any network-
compatible application to be used to find and do
local business in segments like grocery, mobility,
food ordering and delivery, hotel reservation, as well
as travel, among other things. The platform wants
to bring in new customers, stop digital monopolies,
help micro, small, and medium-sized businesses, as
well as small business owners, get on online
platforms, and build a place where businesses of all
sizes can safely and easily do business with each
other and with third-party vendors [3]. The ONDC
also tries to encourage innovation by letting
businesses share their best ideas. This is a project of
the Ministry of Commerce and Industry's
Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal
Trade (DPIIT). The ONDC, which is an e-commerce
UPI, wants to make digital or e-commerce more
democratic by changing it from a platform centric
model to the open network (ON). On ONDC, traders
would be able to save their data in order to build
credit history and reach consumers. The suggested
government-supported platform aims to establish
a level playing field for ecommerce. Platforms
would also be compliant with the Information
Technology Act, 2000 and specifically designed to
comply with the emerging Personal Data Protection
Bill. In the system, ONDC wants to make it possible
for sellers and buyers to connect digitally and do
business through an open network (ON), regardless
of the platform or app they are using. It would also
allow merchants and customers to create a single
network by breaking down silos. This would
encourage innovation and growth across all
businesses, from a retail goods to food to
transportation [5]. The new structure is designed to
promote open networks drawn up on an open-
sourced methodology that uses the open
specifications as well as open network protocols not
dependent on any particular platform. This is
expected to digitalize the whole value chain,
standardize the transactions, promote the
integration of suppliers, obtain efficiencies for
logistics and improve value for the consumer. ONDC
wish would take all appropriate methods to ensure
confidentiality and the privacy of network data [6].
ONDC is not going to compel participants to share
any transaction level data with ONDC. It will work
together with its attendees to publish anonymous
aggregate metrics on network efficiency without
sacrificing confidentiality and privacy. This article
describes major difficulties in the market that
prompted the government to launch the ONDC
initiative. The ONDC promises to offer equal
opportunities for small merchants. It is correct to
say that Digital Commerce (DC) will shift Indian e-
commerce far from the current platform-centric
model overlooked by market leaders. With an open
network, when the ONDC is coming in, there is a
chance that even a tiny retailer will be able to be
visible immediately across multiple platforms. The
ONDC is a nonprofit system that the government
believes is going to be a game changer. This is
significant because the government wishes to
disperse digital monopolies and duopolies of big
technology companies. Even without all the hype,
the ONDC initiative was expected to be as
groundbreaking as UPI.
2.AN OVERVIEW OF DIGITAL COMMERCE IN INDIA
India has emerged as the fastest growing economy
in the world and is projected to be one of the top
three economies in the next 10-15 years. According
to initial estimates, gross domestic product at
current prices stood at Rs: 51.23 lakh crore in the 1st
quarter of FY2022. India's digital commerce industry
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Volume: 01 Issue: 02 | April-June 2022 www.puirj.com
© 2022, PUIRJ | DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6799694 Page | 94
has evolved and gained significant momentum
over the past years, which has further accelerated
under the constraints of COVID-19 [7]. The digital
transformation is in progress in terms of access to
connectivity at an affordable cost. The increase in
penetration of smartphones, and the increase in
investments in the start-up ecosystem are
important factors that contribute to this. India has
the world's third largest buyer base, with 14 million
retail buyers in 2020, second only to China and the
United States. This quantity is expected to rise
rapidly with the addition of 37 million Generation Z
consumers who grew up in an India with ubiquitous
internet, smartphones, and digital and digital
consumer platforms[8]. However, the COVID-19
pandemic showed the shortcomings of India's
digital commerce ecosystem when most elements
of the retail chain were found to be digitally absent,
and there was no complete supply chain. Around 1.2
crore kiranas account for eighty percent of the retail
sector in India, with 90 percent of them being
unorganized, or self-organized, and most of them
digitally excluded. From September 2020, India is
estimated to have (4.25 million) micro, small and
medium-sized enterprises that thrive on innovative
sales and marketing efforts but are not part of the
digital revolution. Even from the user side, a small
percentage of internet customers in India are online
shoppers [7,9]. The limitations are more evident in
the share of trade in the overall segment of retail
India. The gross market value for retail digital
commerce (DC) in the Indian market was 2.85 lakh
crores in 2020, which is only 4.3% of total retail in
India and well below retail penetration in countries
like China, Korea, and the UK. By 2026, digital
commerce in the retail sector it is expected that
India will reach Rs. 15 lakh crores.
3.AN OPPORTUNITY TO TRANSFORM DIGITAL
COMMERCE
Humans have operated markets and exchanged
value as buyers and sellers since the beginning of
time. The interactions between a seller or provider
with something to offer and a buyer or consumer
make it possible to create marketplaces of varying
sizes and shapes. The fragmented and
decentralized market makes it harder and more
complicated to carry out these transactions in the
larger ecosystem of commerce, across categories
and locations. In recent decades, these markets
have flourished digitally as a result of the internet,
which has enabled providers and consumers to
move their interactions online. Digital has caused a
big change in how goods and services are delivered
around the world. It has also changed how people
interact with markets, which has upset the status
quo in many industries, such as retail,
transportation, travel, and hospitality [17].
In the digital world, platforms allowing digital
marketplaces for buyers as well as sellers evolving
into large, combined solutions that link the seller
and the buyer with combined services such as
logistics, warehousing, payment, etc. under one
service provider. The rapid expansion of these
platforms has hampered the ability of new online
sellers to compete unless they are affiliated with an
established end-to-end service provider. Even
though more platforms can and do come online, the
number of attendees is limited by the amount of
money needed to set up such integrated solutions
[18]. The buyers and sellers face the concentration
risk of the platforms as the size of the platforms
increases. Even if the platform is run by the
government, consolidating the majority of digital
commerce trades onto a single platform increases
risk and creates a single point of failure. With this
faculty concentration, the freedoms of exclusion and
discretionary behavior begin to emerge. So, the
platforms become "operators" on the market, and
small and medium-sized businesses lose the option
and freedom to participate on their own terms [19].
This also takes the key issue of portability of trust.
The platforms enable the providers and consumers
to create a credibility via the dealings allowed
through their platforms, which has considerable
value. However, if a seller is eager to port its hard-
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© 2022, PUIRJ | DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6799694 Page | 95
earned credibility or reputation (trust) to an
additional platform or its very own applications
independent of the initial platform, it is not in a
position to do so even though it is its own data as
well as its credentials. If, thanks to misalignment of
the incentive, any of users in the platform like to stop
using the present platform they are linked to, they
must forfeit all such values built up on a platform.
They cannot carry or move in the same way.
Therefore, this pattern of value creation and the
exchange converts platforms into the most
important stores or keepers of value, that locks the
sellers into a particular system (Figure 1). Its store of
value concept has affected the large, unimpeded,
free-to-scale stream of value that a fair and
effective market should possess.
Fig -1: The digital marketplace model of
commerce
Such a market structure can lead to numerous
challenges. In the event that sellers desire to be on
various platforms, they are needed by platforms to
keep separate infrastructure as well as processes,
which increases their cost and also restricts their
involvement. Every platform will have their own
terms and conditions which restrict the flexibility of
vendors, and with so much restricted flexibility, the
scope and diversity of involvement could be
constrained. Additionally, the seller and buyer must
be on the same platform in order to find one
another. Such gaps result in restricted choice and
search capabilities within the disjointed collection of
platforms. Purchasing from a close inventory online
at the neighborhood Kirana store to get to know that
someone is looking for something from the store
remains a digital vacuum despite the apparently
rapid progress of many digital platforms as well as
the pervasiveness of phones and the internet. The
pandemic has only heightened such a challenge.
The Indian digital commerce ecosystem, which is
still in the middle of its evolution, is not an exception
to the preceding drawbacks. Because of the
immensity and diversity of its territory, the problem
is also compounded in the ecosystem of the
country. Several market participants are involved in
efforts to deal with these issues, including initiatives
focused on digitization and onboarding of small and
medium-sized companies. These challenges,
however, can be addressed only by using a
coordinated strategy at a local scale. There is a
need to transform the digital commerce approach
of scaling what works to a new approach of what
works at scale [20]. In light of the digital India
initiative of the government, the vibrant nature of
the information technology (IT) sector, as well as the
urgency of the current pandemic, it seems
appropriate to establish and promote an alternate
model of digital commerce through the digital
inclusion of a wide range of cross-sectional
businesses. The goal of this strategy is to make it
possible for MSMEs and a wide range of buyers to
use digital technology and do business online. Even
earlier, India has demonstrated that it can transform
huge-scale projects with the ability to essentially
disturb and democratize markets, like UPI- Unified
Payment Interface, and UIDAI-Unique Identification
Authority of India-Aadhaar, and more recently, the
GSTN-Goods and Services Tax Network, and the
ABDM-Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission. The Unified
Payment Interface helped unify India's business
transactions so that all Indians should have the
ability to make use of digital commerce to buy or
sell goods or services.
4.THE MAJOR OBJECTIVIES OF ONDC
The major objectives are as follows:
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Fig -2: Objective of ONDC
It will compare with Unified Payments Interface
(UPI)- ONDC, which unites several digital commerce
features, seamless routing, and online shopping
features into a single, unified application. The ONDC
is a platform that provides easy access to online
shopping for consumers as well as a selling platform
for small and medium-sized business owners in
India [14,15].
5.THE AIM OF ONDC
This ONDC platform aims to create new
opportunities, decrease digital monopolies, as well
as enable micro, small, and medium-sized
businesses and small traders by making them
online. It is the creation of the MCI-Ministry of
Commerce and Industry's DPIIT- Department for
Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade [10]. In a
nation with a population of 1.35 billion, ONDC intends
to increase e-commerce penetration to twenty-five
percent of all consumer purchases made during the
next two years, up from approximately eight percent
currently [11]. Within the next 5 years, it is likely to
register 900 million customers and 1.2 million
vendors on a common network. This will result in a
gross merchandise value of USD 48 billion.
According to government figures, India's e-
commerce business was estimated at over 55
billion USD in gross merchandise value(GMV) in 2021
and is projected to expand to USD 350 billion before
the end of the current decade. According to a
Reuters estimate, Amazon and Walmart's Flipkart
currently hold more than 60 percent of the market.
6.THE ONDC STRUCTURE
The ONDC uses free-software approach, open
network protocols and open specifications. In ONDC,
customers as well as merchants can transact goods
and services individually of any application or
platform [14]. Beckn will offer technology and
specification layer that ONDC is going to design the
network trust, network policies, network grievance
management, and network credibility systems [14].
ONDC plans to implement a more dynamic pricing
model, digitalized inventory monitoring, and
distribution cost optimization to assist lower the cost
of conducting business for every person on the
platform. ONDC will operate on a hyper-local
search-engine model based upon the GPS proximity
data as default setting [16]. The customer can
separately choose the seller and the logistics
partner to finish the order.
7.DESCRIPTION OF OPEN NETWORK
The Open Network surpasses the present platform-
centric model, in which both buyer and seller should
be part of the same platform or application to
facilitate transactions. Instead, in an open network,
buyers and sellers can do business regardless of the
platform or application they use to be digitally
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visible or available [17]. This allows for the free flow of
information and value, as shown in fig. 3:
Fig -3: Description of Open Network
An open network based on an open protocol will
allow any network-enabled application to discover
and engage in location-aware, local commerce
across industries. As the IMAP- Internet Message
Access Protocol and SMTP-Simple Mail Transfer
Protocol are for email, the Hypertext Transfer
Protocol (HTTP) is for the World Wide Web, and the
Unified Payment Interface (UPI) is for payment
systems, the Open Network concept was created to
change digital commerce in India. The open network
is prefaced on the fundamental ideas of
decentralization, openness, and increased user
utility. By using these ideas, the network will speed
up the adoption of technology stacks and tools like
artificial intelligence, machine learning, blockchain,
etc. through innovation and experimentation at
each node.
It is anticipated that the open network protocol will
act as a force multiplier for various segments,
including businesses, consumers, application
developers, governments, and other relevant
participants, by creating an interoperable and open
playing field for these segments to operate and
compete. This open network will disaggregate the
supply chain, shifting the balance of power from the
intermediaries to the end users, merchants, and
providers of support services. This will have the most
effect on small businesses that want to use digital
commerce to boost innovation and grow. The open
network concept is not limited to the retail industry;
its use cases and advantages can be extended to
every digital commerce domain, such as wholesale,
mobility, food delivery, logistics, travel, urban
services, etc.—any digital transaction between a
buyer and seller for goods or services. It has the
ability to revolutionize both business-to-consumer
and business-to-business transactions [21].
8.ABOUT THE BECKN PROTOCOL
The Beckn Protocol, an open and interoperable
protocol for decentralized digital commerce, is used
to construct the ONDC's backend. Beckn Gateways
provide aggregated, anonymized network-
generated data[22,23]. Interoperability is achieved
by decoupling the packet transmission layer from
the experience layer in order to standardize the core
of commercial transactions, such as discovery,
order booking, payment, delivery, and fulfillment. By
taking a modular approach, it can be tailored to the
needs of both the customer and the provider [22].
The Beckn Foundation is now supporting the
undertaking. It facilitates the digital transaction
layer, the third layer of public digital infrastructure in
an open digital ecosystem. This aids in fostering
market competition and regulating anticompetitive
conduct. The development happened because of
the failure of US standard bodies to establish new
standards, leaving the issue to be resolved by large
technology companies [24]. The Beckn Protocol is a
substitute for and is compatible with similar US-
developed protocols used globally for computer
transactions and the transmission of data. The
success of UPI led to the creation of more open-
source ecosystems across the country in other
fields.
9.IMPLEMENTATION OF OPEN PROTOCOLS
Despite the rapid expansion of Indian e-commerce,
the ONDC will be able to assist smaller companies,
which will benefit their business. The ONDC will also
help to democratize e-commerce in India so that
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© 2022, PUIRJ | DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6799694 Page | 98
small pop-up stores and retailers do not suffer the
same fate as they do in the West. On the other hand,
the ONDC will enable small retailers to continue to
exist in the larger e-commerce market because
large e-commerce companies are continuously
engaging in unusual practices and are under
constant examination. Through an open platform,
the ONDC gives small businesses and entrepreneurs
the chance to connect directly with customers.
10. GUIDELINES FOR DEVELOPING AN ALTERNATIVE
STRATEGY
Solutions designed to support the rapid expansion
of digital marketplaces across sectors and regions
must be fundamentally inclusive. As depicted in
Figure 4, the plan for such a population-scale
initiative should be based on a solid foundation
Fig -4: Guidelines for developing an alternative
strategy
11.ONDC BUILDING BLOCKS
An overview of technology components
The technology components consist of the various
network components, like the registry, gateway,
buyer and seller applications, and the building
blocks, like adapter interfaces, which can be used to
generate these network components [25].
Adaptor Interfaces: Adaptor interfaces are the open
APIs created in accordance with the open-source
interoperable specification of the Beckn protocol.
These interfaces' documentation is available at
www.ondc.org. These APIs will allow sharing of
information for the implementation of transactions,
allowing all network participants to communicate
and integrate via interfaces certified by the ONDC.
Gateway: Application that ensures search
capabilities of all sellers in the network by
broadcasting search requests from buyer
applications to all seller applications, by criteria
such as location, readiness, and other customer
preferences. To launch the operations, ONDC plans
to provide a Gateway through its technology
partners initially. With increased volume of
transactions, it is anticipated that multiple gateway
providers will emerge with independent service
offerings in the network.
Open Registries: Applications that keeps the
corresponding list of participants that take part in
ONDC, the catalog of network policies, etc.
Buyer and Seller Edge Applications: These
applications will allow end-users and sellers or
service providers to conduct business on the ONDC
network. To encourage initial participation, ONDC
may roll out reference buyer and seller edge
applications directly or via its technology partners.
Open-source reference applications will also be
made available for service providers to adopt and
build upon in order to join the ONDC network [26].
i) ONDC Network (at its core) consists of network
attendees who sign up ONDC as buyer side apps,
seller side apps, or gateways to form the open
network.
ii) ONDC Network services (on the right) – displays
the CNS-common network services that will allow
network attendees to perform on the network and
will form the ONDC digital infrastructure.
iii) Other networks (on the left) - displays other open
networks (ON) in other domains, such as the OCEN-
Open Credit Enablement Network, with which it can
interface seamlessly [25].
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Figure 5 demonstrates the Open Network
components enabled by ONDC and how they
interact with other networks.
Fig -5: Open Network Components enabled by
ONDC
12.VISION OF ONDC TO MAKE E-COMMERCE MORE
ACCESSIBLE TO CONSUMERS
Most likely, an open network for digital commerce
will make e-commerce more accessible and
inclusive for consumers [22]. Consumers can locate
any seller, product, or service using an ONDC-
compatible application or platform [23].
Additionally, the platform will assist consumers in
matching demand with the nearest available
supply, and that this platform will allow consumers
to choose their preferred local businesses,
standardize operations, drive efficiencies as well as
logistics, and increase customer value [24]. Small
businesses can utilize ONDC-compatible
applications as opposed to platform-specific
policies. This will facilitate their discoverability and
business operations.
13.HOW DIGITAL INFRASTRUCTURE WILL UNLOCK
INDIA’S POTENTIAL
India is becoming a worldwide economic
powerhouse and a market leader in not only
technology but also in developing governance and
economic models that are different from both the
western and east-Asian models. In the age of digital
diplomacy, India is a world leader in constructing
digital infrastructures for public benefit. The success
and significant influence of initiatives such as the
India Stack and JAM have demonstrated exactly
how public digital infrastructure, utilizing an open-
source codebase as well as an inclusive ecosystem
to collaborate with Indian businesses, could unlock
huge potential, activate service delivery on a large
scale, and affect the lives of a billion people. E-
commerce in India has drastically changed the way
Indians do business and live their lives, creating
wealth, jobs, and a higher quality of life. So far, the
impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has thrown into
sudden relief both the value and constraints of the
existing model of e-commerce [12]. For example, e-
commerce accounts for less than 4% of the entire
retail commerce in India, while Kiranas, which are
hyperlocal neighbourhood provision stores, make up
80% of the retail sector and have been largely
barred from digital commerce [13]. Despite the fact
that the increase in access to the internet and
smartphone access is Furthering digital
transformation in the nation, what India requires is
to shift towards an all-encompassing digital
commerce that opens up innovation, democratizes
value chains, improves efficiency and
responsiveness, and enables both merchants as
well as consumers.
14.TECHNOLOGICAL FACILITATION OF TRADE
An ONDC could be a significant development for the
e-commerce industry in India because it will allow
businesses to compete directly without the need for
intermediaries. This could be a significant boon for
small businesses in India, as they will no longer be
reliant on traditional e-commerce platforms that
primarily benefit large businesses. It will provide
technological solutions to facilitate trade, and its
benefits include Access to the expansion of digital
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commerce via seller-and buyer-side applications
will provide new opportunities for startups to
promote innovation in various network segments. It
will be possible to achieve a shorter time to market
and time to scale. Focus on specialized features that
will enable other partners to focus on other aspects.
15.THE E-COMMERCE REVOLUTION WITH ONDC IN
INDIA
To facilitate small and medium-sized businesses'
access to online platforms, the ONDC intends to
create new opportunities and eliminate digital
monopolies. This could be a game-changer for the
e-commerce industry, particularly in India. It will
compete with major players and make it easier for
businesses to purchase, sell, and exchange goods
and services. Small and medium-sized businesses
will also be able to bypass the conventional e-
commerce platforms that favor larger corporations.
This government bank platform will level the playing
field for e-commerce titans such as Flipkart and
Amazon, as well as small offline merchants, the
backbone of the Indian retail industry. Small
business owners have always been dissatisfied with
the business practices of larger corporations such
as Amazon and Flipkart. A revolution will occur if the
government's plan is successful. Millions of small
businesses will be able to go online.
16.ONDC AND THE CURBING OF DIGITAL
MONOPOLIES
It is anticipated that the Indian e-commerce market
will grow to be a $200 billion industry . However, the
government must confront numerous challenges
and develop strategies to address them. Small- to
medium-sized players have a bright future. More
people will spend money on products that reflect
their culture and identity, resulting in more
alterations to their habits and way of life. As the
Indian economy grows, it is inevitable that more of
these goods will be consumed. Consequently, the
retail e-commerce industry will expand as a result.
This will bring an end to digital monopolies in the e-
commerce industry.
17.ONDC IMPLEMENTATION METHODOLOGY
Taking into account the variety of use cases and
ecosystem participants, implementing ONDC on a
large scale to make it a public utility is a long-term
endeavor. Given the transformational change that
ONDC will bring to how the digital commerce
industry works today, it will face difficulties in
establishing trust among small and large digital
commerce companies, managing user
expectations, and addressing customer and seller
fraud issues. Therefore, the initial phase of the ONDC
must be implemented rapidly in order to gain
acceptance and identify practical considerations
for implementing it on a larger scale. The strategy
for executing the ONDC has been designed to
emphasize three major aspects: technology,
business, and institution-building.
18. THE CHALLENGES OF ONDC
What is the likelihood of large e-commerce
companies joining ONDC: Large e-commerce
companies have protested because they have
already made substantial investments in R&D and
the deployment of their own processes and
technologies. Through aggressive discounts and the
promotion of preferred sellers, Amazon and Flipkart
have invested a combined total of US $24 billion to
capture 80% of the Indian e-commerce market.
Indian retail giants Tata as well as Reliance have
also made retail platforms, shopping applications,
and super applications [27].
Existing Data Privacy Concerns: If the ONDC
functions as advertised, it will manage vast
quantities of highly sensitive personal and
commercial data, making data security an absolute
necessity. The sections on data privacy are vague
and require immediate clarification, especially in
light of the pending data protection legislation. The
strategy document states that transaction data will
only reside within the applications of the buyer and
seller and will not be visible to the ONDC. The ONDC
will not store or view transaction information. The
data policies will be "consent-based and
constrained by purpose limitation." The ONDC will
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ensure the data security of transactions and protect
the personally identifiable information of users and
"trade-critical seller data" from unauthorized access
by third parties. The manner in which the ONDC
ensures this level of security is crucial to the
network's credibility and, consequently, the adoption
of this system [27].
19. CONCLUSIONS
ONDC aims to be a community-led initiative and to
democratize the Indian e-commerce market by
creating a level playing field for all businesses. It is
being launched in response to concerns stated by
market bodies, merchants, and sellers about the
growing dominance of large corporations in India's
digital commerce sector. An ONDC is a government
initiative that promotes open networks for the
exchange of all digital goods and services. Currently,
a consumer who is only connected to one portal
can only make purchases on that site. On this
network, users are able to buy products and services
from any company without having to navigate to
another e-commerce platform. With the
introduction of ONDC, it is hoped that all online
businesses will have equal exposure and access to
development opportunities. There are significant
difficulties to the broader adoption and penetration
of digital commerce that have not been addressed
in the article. Platform to Network focuses on
rethinking digital commerce for the next decade
and introducing a new way of thinking about digital
commerce that promises to be more inclusive and
drive wider adoption. There are few growing pains
that should be anticipated and planned for in the
process of expanding the network. ONDC may not
solve all the issues that currently function as
obstacles to the adoption and penetration of digital
commerce on both the buyer and seller sides, but it
goes a long way toward addressing some of the
segment's most pressing issues. ONDC is a market-
creating opportunity that will not only contribute to
the expansion of the digital commerce market but
will also have a substantial impact on the economy,
including employment, the creation of livelihoods,
and supply chain efficiencies, among other things.
The main and most crucial goal of this platform is to
defend government rules and regulations while also
keeping an eye on all aspects of e-commerce
company growth.
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